BJP spent over ₹600 crore on elections, propaganda in FY 2016-17: report

The annual income of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surged by 80% ₹571 crore in 2015-16 to ₹1,034 crore in financial year 2016-17, a new report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has found.

More than ₹606 crore, or nearly 59%, of the total expenditure incurred by the BJP was spent on election-related activities and propaganda, the analysis of election data by ADR has shown.

According to the report, BJP reported a total expenditure of ₹710.05 crore in 2016-17; almost 96% of BJP’s income, or ₹997.12 crore, came through voluntary donations and grants.

While the ruling BJP saw its coffers swell in 2016-17, the ADR findings paint a contrasting picture for the main Opposition party, Congress.

The annual income of Congress dropped from ₹261.56 crore in 2015-16 to ₹225.36 crore in financial year 2016-17, witnessing a decline of 14%.

The break-up of Congress’ expenditure shows that almost ₹150 crore was spent on election-related activities, with another ₹115.65 crore incurred on administrative and general costs.

The revenue from issuance of coupons contributed 51.32% of Congress’ income in 2016-17, the highest percentage share of all the parties. Only ₹50.62 crore of Congress’ funding came through donations, as per ADR.

Further, the report states that Congress failed to meet its funding needs from the income it generated in 2016-17, reporting an expenditure of ₹321.61 crore against an income of ₹225.36 crore.

During its analysis, the ADR scrutinused financial data of seven national parties, the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

In 2016-17, the seven national parties declared a combined income of ₹1,559.17 crore, against a total expenditure of ₹1,228.26 crore, the analysis says.