70% of corporate donations went to BJP after 2012: ADR

While corporate donations to political parties jumped three times after 2012, as compared to the period between 2004 and 2012, as much as 70% of it went to the Bharatiya Janata Party and 20% to the Indian National Congress, confirming the widely held perception that BJP is the blue-eyed party of corporate bodies.

A report compiled by the Association of Democratic Reform (ADR) released on Thursday reveals that corporate bodies donated just about ₹ 378 crore to political parties in the eight years between 2004 and 2012. This period saw two general elections for the Lok Sabha and as many as 52 Assembly elections.

In sharp contrast, the donations jumped to ₹ 956.77 crore between 2012 and 2016 when there was only one general election for the Lok Sabha and 24 Assembly elections in these four years. The bulk of it, ₹705 crore, the report reveals, went to the BJP.

Other highlights of the report are :

• In the year 2012-13, the Real Estate sector was the highest donor to political parties and donated ₹ 16.95 crore. Almost 90% of it, ₹15.96 crore went to the BJP and ₹ 95 lakhs to the Congress

• 99% of the donations without PAN numbers and addresses during this four-year period worth ₹ 155.59 crore belong to the BJP

• During this period, 2,987 corporate bodies donated to the BJP as against 167 corporate bodies to the Indian National Congress

• The bulk of the donations came from Trusts, Group of companies (45%), manufacturing sector(12%), real estate (12%), mining(9%) and fertiliser and chemicals(4%)

• Whole BJP, INC, CPI and CPI(M) filed returns showing donations received above ₹20,000, the Bahujan Samaj Party claimed that during this period it received no donation above this amount during these four years.

The ADR report has made the following recommendations :

1. All political parties be required to put up details of donations received on their websites

2. Political parties which fail to file Returns to the Election Commission on donations by the stipulated date be penalised and made to pay tax on the donations received by them

3. Political parties be required to record the dates when the donations are made.

4. Rules should be changed to ensure that no information on the Return be withheld and left blank; and finally

5. The scrutiny of donations be given to the CBDT to ensure that shell companies are not used to route money.