According to the poll rights group Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), the BJP declared total earnings of Rs 4,340.47 crore for the fiscal year 2023–2024, the highest of any national party.
According to the ADR’s assessment, the sum represented 74.57% of the six national parties’ total revenue during the reviewed period. “The BJP declared a total income of Rs 4,340.473 crore during FY 2023-24 but spent only 50.96 per cent of it, amounting to Rs 2,211.69 crore. The total income of Congress was Rs 1,225.12 crore, while its expenditure for the year was Rs 1,025.25 crore or 83.69 per cent of its total income,” the report said.
Electoral bond donations accounted for a significant amount of national parties’ revenue. With Rs 1,685.63 crore, the BJP took home the largest share, followed by the Congress with Rs 828.36 crore and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with Rs 10.15 crore.
Through the electoral bond scheme, which the Supreme Court declared “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary” in May of last year, these three parties raised a total of Rs 2,524.1361 crore, or 43.36 percent of their total income.
According to information provided by the State Bank of India in response to an RTI request submitted by the ADR, different political parties redeemed electoral bonds totaling Rs 4,507.56 crore during the fiscal year 2023–2024. Of this total, 55.99 percent, or Rs 2,524.1361 crore, came from the national parties.
According to the report, the Congress spent a maximum of Rs 619.67 crore on election-related expenses, with administrative and general expenses coming in second at Rs 340.702 crore. By contrast, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) spent Rs 47.57 crore on staff expenditures and Rs 56.29 crore on general and administrative expenses. Six national parties said that they had received donations and contributions totaling Rs 2,669.87 crore.
Only the Congress (Rs 58.56 crore) and CPI(M) (Rs 11.32 crore) of these six parties reported earning a total of Rs 69.88 crore from the sale of coupons, according to the report. There were delays of 12 to 66 days in the submission of the CPI(M), Congress, and BJP audit reports. According to the research, national parties most frequently spent money on elections and administrative costs.
