BJP 'officially' received 3 times corporate-supported donations vs all other parties

By A Representative
A report, prepared by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), focusing on donations received by national political parties above Rs 20,000 during the financial year 2018-19, as submitted by the parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI), suggests of Rs 951.66 crore from 5,520 donations, the BJP received more than three times the total received by other major political parties analysed.
The report says, "A total of Rs 742.15 crore was declared by BJP from 4,483 donations, while the Indian National Congress (INC) declared receiving Rs 148.58 crore from 605 donations." Other political parties analysed are Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
BSP declared that the party did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000 during 2018-19, as it has been declaring for the past 13 years, the report says.

"The total donations of the national parties during 2018-19 increased by Rs 481.77 crore, an increase of almost 103%, from the previous financial year 2017-18", the report says, pointing out, "Donations to BJP increased from Rs 437.04 crore during 2017-18 to Rs 742.15 crore during 2018-19 (70% increase). The party’s donations decreased by 18% during 2017-18 in comparison to 2016-17."

Donations to BJP increased from Rs 437.04 crore during 2017-18 to Rs 742.15 crore during 2018-19 (70% increase)

On the other hand, the report says, "INC donations increased from Rs 26.658 crore during 2017-18 to Rs 148.58 crore during 2018-19 (457% increase)", though these had "decreased by 36% between 2016-17 and 2017-18."
A state-wise segregation suggests that a total of Rs 548.22 crore was donated to the national parties from Maharashtra, followed by Rs 141.42 crore from Delhi and Rs 55.31 crore from Gujarat. "A total of Rs 65.84 crore (6.92% of total donations received by the national parties, 2018-19), could not be attributed to any State/ Union Territory due to incomplete information provided by the parties", the report adds.
The report further finds that 1,776 donations to the national parties were made by corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 876.11 crore (92.06% of total donations) while 3,509 individual donors donated Rs 71.407 crore (7.50% of total donations) to the parties during 2018-19."
It adds, as many as "1575 donations from corporate/business sectors were made to BJP (Rs 698.092 crore) while 2,741 individual donors donated Rs 41.70 crore to the party during 2018-19." On the other hand, "INC received a total of Rs 122.5 crore via 122 donations from corporate/business sectors and Rs 25.39 crore via 482 individual donors during 2018-19."
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Click here for ADR report

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