Regional party income from unknown sources was Rs 887.55 cr in 2021-22: ADR

The income of regional political parties from unknown sources in the financial year 2021-22 amounted to Rs 887.55 crore, accounting for 76 per cent of their total earnings, according to the Association of Democratic Reform (ADR).

The figure indicates a rise in parties' income from unknown sources in comparison to 2020-21 when the total income of regional parties accounted for Rs 530.70 crore, of which Rs 263.93 crore or 49.73 per cent came from unknown sources.

According to the report, donations over Rs 20,000 are defined to have come from "known" sources as their donor details are available through contribution reports as submitted by regional parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The "unknown" sources are income declared in the annual audit report by these parties but without giving the source of income.

At present, political parties are not required to reveal the name of individuals or organisations giving less than Rs 20,000 and those who donated via electoral bonds.

The ADR stated such unknown sources include donations via electoral bonds, sales of coupons, relief funds, miscellaneous income, voluntary contributions, and contributions from meetings or morchas.

The details of donors of such voluntary contributions are not available in the public domain.

The ADR said the total income of political parties from unknown sources amounts to Rs 887.55 crore, which is 76.15 per cent of their total earnings.

Of the Rs 887.55 crore, 93.26 per cent or Rs 827.76 crore of this came from Electoral Bonds, the ADR said.

The Income from the sale of coupons formed 4.32 per cent (Rs 38.35 crore) and voluntary contributions (below Rs 20,000) formed 2.40 per cent (Rs 21.29 crore) in income from unknown sources of 27 regional parties.

Initially, 54 regional (recognised) parties were considered for this analysis. However, only 28 of them had filed both their Annual Audit and Contribution reports while the remaining parties had only submitted one out of the two reports.

While the total income of 27 regional political parties in FY 2021-22 amounts to Rs 1,165.58 crore, the total income of political parties from known donors stands at Rs 145.42 crore, which is 12.48 per cent of their total income, the report said.

The total income of political parties from other known sources like membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc. is Rs 132.61 crore or 11.38 per cent of the total income.