BJP declares Rs 1,027-crore income in FY18: Report

The BJP has declared total income of Rs 1,027 crore and expenditure of Rs 758 crore (74 per cent) during financial year 2017-18, while the Congress has not yet submitted its audited reports to the Election Commission (EC), as per a report issued on Monday.

The report was prepared by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after analysing the total income and expenditure incurred by the seven national parties as declared in their Income Tax Returns submitted to the EC.

It said the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) total income was Rs 51.7 crore, of which it spent Rs 14.78 crore (29 per cent).

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is the only party to have spent more than its total income. While declaring an income of Rs 8.15 crore, the party spent Rs 8.84 crore, an excess of Rs 69 lakhs, as per the report.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), CPM and the BSP submitted their audited reports in time while the CPI submitted it after a day, NCP submitted after 20 days, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 24 days after the due date, October 30.

Six national parties collected Rs 1,041.80 crore (86.91 per cent) of their total income from Voluntary Contributions in 2017-18, in which the BJP's share is Rs 989 crore.

Out of these parties, only the BJP declared receiving an income of Rs 210 crore from Contribution through Electoral Bonds -- a part of Voluntary Contributions.

As per the report, the BJP's income decreased by 0.67 per cent from Rs 1,034 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 1,027 crore in 2017-18.

During the same period, the BSP's income decreased by 235.8 per cent and NCP's by 111.5 per cent.

--IANS

spk/nir