Donations to Political parties

Political parties in India have 'earned' a whopping Rs 4,662 crore through donations and other sources since 2004 with the ruling Congress at the top with an income of Rs 2,008 crore followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party at Rs 994 crore.

The income of political parties from 2004 to 20111 shows an almost steady growth.

The Congress has the highest income, which went from Rs 222 crore in 2004-2005 to Rs 307.08 crore in 2010-2011, followed by the BJP. In 2004-2005, the BJP, which is the main opposition party, earned Rs 104 crore and in 2010-2011 and its earnings were Rs 168 crore, according to a Right to Information application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Among the major political parties in the country, there was decrease in the income of the Samajwadi Party. Its total income went down from Rs 28.54 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 15.21 crore in 2010-11.

Relying on the IT returns and list of donors submitted to the Election Commission for the period 2004-2011, the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch released a report of the income of political parties in the country.

Congress

With an annual income of Rs 307.08 crore in 2010-2011, the Congress is the richest party in the county. Interestingly, the income of the Congress more than doubled from Rs 220 crore in 2007-2008 to Rs 496 crore in 2008-2009.

The figures complied by ADR and NEW show that Congress' income is Rs 2,008 crore, mostly through selling of 'coupons', since it began heading a government at the Centre in 2004 till 2011 though the percentage of donations is just 14.42 per cent.

The party's income from 2004-2007 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 222 crore

2005-2006: Rs 124 crore

2006-2007: Rs 169 crore

2007-2008: Rs 220 crore

2008-2009: Rs 496 crore

2009-2010: Rs 497 crore

2010-2011: Rs 307 crore

The annual income of the BJP in 2010-2011 is almost half of that of the Congress. It earned Rs 168 crore and is the second richest party in the country.

81.47 per cent of BJP's total income of Rs 994 crore in the past seven years came through donations from corporate houses and trusts owned by major firms, including the London-listed Vedanta.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 104 crore

2005-2006: Rs 38.34 crore

2006-2007: Rs 82.49 crore

2007-2008: Rs 123 crore

2008-2009: Rs 220 crore

2009-2010: Rs 258 crore

2010-2011: Rs 168 crore

The BSP has seen a whopping rise in income from a mere Rs 4.2 crore in 2004-2005 to Rs 115.7 crore in 2010-2011.

The BSP has declared that it has not received any donations above Rs 20,000.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 4.2 crore

2005-2006: Rs 9.7 crore

2006-2007: Rs 45.88 crore

2007-2008: Rs 69.7 crore

2008-2009: Rs 182 crore

2009-2010: Rs 56.97 crore

2010-2011: Rs 115.7 crore

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has seen a steady growth in earnings over the last five years. Its income went from Rs 12.1 crore in 2004-2005 to Rs 23.3 crore in 2010-2011.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 12.1 crore

2005-2006: Rs 7.37 crore

2006-2007: Rs 15.80 crore

2007-2008: Rs 69.7 crore

2008-2009: Rs 40 crore

2009-2010: Rs 44.84 crore

2010-2011: Rs 22.3 crore

The earnings of the Communist Party of India were Rs 50 lakh in 2004-2005 and has gone up to Rs 2.12 crore in 2010-2011. The CPI said its leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja contributed Rs 65 lakh and Rs 21 lakh respectively by collecting donations from various sources.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 50 lakh

2005-2006: Rs 53 lakh

2006-2007: Rs 68 lakh

2007-2008: Rs 59 lakh

2008-2009: Rs 1.06 crore

2009-2010: Rs 1.29 crore

2010-2011: Rs 2.12 crore

The Communist Party of India-Marxist, which made Rs 39.88 crore in 2004-2005, earned Rs 76.57 core in 2010-2011.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 39.88 crore

2005-2006: Rs 41.6 crore

2006-2007: Rs 63.4 crore

2007-2008: Rs 59.7 crore

2008-2009: Rs 62.83 crore

2009-2010: Rs 73.28 crore

2010-2011: Rs 76.57 crore

Jayalalithaa's All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam income increased to Rs 14.2 crore in 2010-2011 from Rs 1.17 crore five years ago.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 1.17 crore

2005-2006: Rs 12.95 crore

2006-2007: Rs 6.4 crore

2007-2008: Rs 2.99 crore

2008-2009: Rs 12.5 crore

2009-2010: Rs 9.74 crore

2010-2011: Rs 14.2 crore

The earnings of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam went from Rs 2.14 crore in 2004-2005 to Rs 6.42 crore in 2010-2011.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 2.14 crore

2005-2006: Rs 4.15 crore

2006-2007: Rs 2.66 crore

2007-2008: Rs 16.81 crore

2008-2009: Rs 12.06 crore

2009-2010: RTI response awaited

2010-2011: Rs 6.42 crore

The Samajwadi Party showed a decrease in its total income from Rs 28.54 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 15.21 crore in 2010-2011.

The party's income from 2004-2005 till 2010-2011:

2004-2005: Rs 28.54 crore

2005-2006: Rs 48.35 crore

2006-2007: Rs 87.05 crore

2007-2008: Rs 32.30 crore

2008-2009: Rs 39 crore

2009-2010: 28.10 crore

2010-2011: Rs 15.21 crore

Among the big political parties in the country Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is the poorest with its annual income in 2010-2011 being 6.16 crore. The RTI response of the party's earnings in 2004-2005 is awaited. However, from the information available its income has risen.

The party made Rs 60.07 lakh in 2006-2007.

2004-2005: RTI repose awaited

2005-2006: RTI repose awaited

2006-2007: Rs 69.07 lakh

2007-2008: Rs 68.97 lakh

2008-2009: RTI repose awaited

2009-2010: 1.95 crore

2010-2011: Rs 6.16 crore

The above is from Rediffmail.com.

If you look at it, the amount is not very large, only Rs 4662 crores, that too in seven years, i.e on an average Rs 666 crores per year.

Surely we can budget this in our budget and ban political parties from receiving donations.

Political parties can receive funding from the government according to their strength in Parliament and the Assemlies.

This will reduce the necessity of political parties to unduly favour businessmen. It will reduce one of the causes of corruption.