BRS tops income, TMC expenses chart among regional parties in FY 22-23: ADR report

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has topped the income chart among regional parties for the financial year 2022-23 with Rs 737.67 crore, 42.38 per cent of the total, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The top five parties with the highest expenditure are All India Trinamool Congress which spent Rs 181.18 crore or 37.66 per cent, followed by YSR-Congress which spent Rs 79.32 crore or 16.49 per cent, BRS, which spent Rs 57.47 crore or 11.94 per cent, DMK, which spent Rs 52.62 crore or 10.94 per cent, and the Samajwadi Party, which spent Rs 31.41 crore or 6.53 per cent of the total expenditure, ADR said.

In a revealing analysis of the financial health of India's regional political parties, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has disclosed detailed income and expenditure reports for 39 out of 57 regional parties for the fiscal year 2022-23.

After BRS, the TMC had the highest income of Rs 333.45 crore or 19.16 per cent, while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) reported an income of Rs 214.35 crore or 12.32 per cent of the total income of the 39 regional parties analysed in the ADR report.

Collectively, the top five parties accounted for Rs 1,541.32 crore, or 88.56 per cent of the total income of the parties analysed while the total declared income of the 39 regional parties stood at Rs 1,740.48 crore, according to the analysis.

The ECI had set 31 October 2023, as the deadline for submission of annual audited accounts of political parties, however, only 16 of them adhered to the time limit.

Twenty-three parties submitted their reports late, with delays ranging from three to 150 days.

The audit reports for 18 regional parties, including prominent ones like Shiv Sena (SHS), Bodoland People's Front (BPF), Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Nationalist Congress Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT), were not available on the ECI website at the time of the report's preparation, the ADR said.

A total of 19 regional parties declared unspent income for the fiscal year.

BRS had the highest unspent income of Rs 680.20 crore, followed by Biju Janata Dal with Rs 171.06 crore and DMK with Rs 161.72 crore.

Conversely, 20 parties reported expenditures exceeding their income, with Janta Dal (Secular) spending 490.43 per cent more than its income.

Voluntary contributions, including donations and electoral bonds, were the primary sources of income for the parties, amounting to Rs 1,522.46 crore or 87.47 per cent of the total income.

Of this, Rs 1,285.83 crore came from electoral bonds. Only eight regional parties declared receiving donations through electoral bonds.

ADR's report recommended that the ECI enforce stricter deadlines and penalise parties for late or non-submission of audit reports.

A full disclosure of donor details under the Right to Information Act is also urged to ensure transparency in political funding.

The report calls for rigorous enforcement of laws like Section 13A of the Income Tax Act and Section 29 (C) of the Representation of People Act, which mandate financial disclosure by political parties.