BJP got 5 times more donations than 4 other national parties in 2022-23: ADR

The BJP has declared donations of nearly Rs 720 crore in 2022-23, which was more than five times the aggregate amount received by four other national parties — the Congress, AAP, CPI-M, and National People's Party, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The total donations (above Rs 20,000) declared by national parties for the 2022-23 fiscal was Rs 850.44 crore from 12,167 donations, data compiled by the ADR showed on Wednesday.

The sixth national party of the country, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), declared that it did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000 during the 2022-23 fiscal, as it has been declaring for the past 17 years.

It is mandatory for registered political parties to reveal individual donations above Rs 20,000 received by them in a financial year.

As much as Rs 719.86 crore from 7,945 donations was declared by the BJP followed by Rs 79.92 crore from 894 donations by the Congress.

The donations declared by the BJP are more than five times the aggregate declared by the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the National People's Party (NPP) and the CPI(M) for the same period. The NPP is the only political party from the Northeast to have national party status.

The ADR also noted that a total of Rs 276.20 crore was donated to the national parties from Delhi, followed by Rs 160.51 crore from Gujarat and Rs 96.27 crore from Maharashtra.

The total donations to national parties during FY 2022-23 increased by Rs 91.70 crore, an increase of 12.09 per cent from the previous financial year. Donations to the BJP increased from Rs 614.63 crore during FY 2021-22 to Rs 719.86 crore during FY 2022-23, an increase of 17.12 per cent, the ADR said.

However, the party’s donations decreased by 41.49 per cent during FY 2020-21 in comparison to FY 2019-20, it said.

The Congress' donations decreased from Rs 95.50 crore during FY 2021-22 to Rs 79.92 crore during FY 2022-23 — a dip of 16.27 per cent. Its donations increased by 28.09 per cent between FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22, according to the ADR.

In comparison to the previous financial year, the decrease in donations declared by CPI(M) was 39.56 per cent (Rs 3.98 crore), and for AAP by 2.99 per cent or Rs 1.14 crore.