The two biggest national political parties — BJP and Congress — witnessed a sharp decline in donations received in the pandemic hit fiscal year 2020-21, data available with the Election Commission of India shows. The contributions received by the BJP declined by 39 per cent over the previous fiscal, according to a submission made by the party to the Election Commission.
As per the EC data, the BJP received Rs 477.54 crore from various entities, electoral trusts and individuals, down from Rs 785 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 742 crore in 2018-19.
On the other hand, the Congress, which has been witnessing a continuous dip in contributions, received Rs 74.5 crore during the same period, down by 45 per cent from the Rs 139 crore it received in 2019-20. The party got Rs 146 crore in 2018-19.
As per the contribution reports of the two parties put in the public domain by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the saffron party received Rs 4,77,54,50,077 from various entities, electoral trusts, and individuals.
The ADR had said the BJP declared a total income of Rs 3,623.28 crore during the financial year 2019-20, but spent only 45.57 per cent (Rs 1,651.022 crore) of it while the Congress’ total income during the same period was Rs 682.21 crore. The party spent Rs 998.158 crore, which exceeds its income for that year by 46.31 per cent, it said.
While political parties usually get larger donations in the year of general elections, experts said the drop in contributions in 2020-21 can also be attributed to the pandemic and the economic impact it had on the market.