As per figures quoted in an Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, the Congress party seems to be struggling to cope up financially with the demands of Indian Politics. The ADR report chiefly analyses the Income and Expenditure of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) for the Financial Year (FY) 2016-17. The report claims that the figures have been sourced from the submissions to Election Commission of India (ECI).
Going by the figures, the Congress party’s income slumped by 14 percent to Rs 225.36 crore from Rs 261.56 crore for FY 2015-16. When it comes to the total expenses incurred, the Congress incidentally spent more than it earned by declaring an expense of Rs 321.66 crore which is Rs 96.30 crore more than its total income.
When it comes to income sources the Congress party claimed that it received Rs 50.62 crore as donations and Rs 115.64 crore via the issuance of coupons. The party earned a total of 43.89 crores as interest on fixed deposits. When it comes to expenditure, the party supposedly spent Rs 149.65 crore as election expenditure and Rs 115.65 crore as administrative and general expense.
In contrast, the BJP seems to be doing pretty well after the party declared a total income of Rs 1034.27 crores which was a whopping 81.18% increase from the 2015-16 figure of Rs 570.86 crore. The party declared a total expenditure of Rs 710.05 crore.
BJP for its income has declared Rs 997.12 crore as having received grants or donations. This figure comprises of 96.41 percent of the party’s total income. The BJP received Rs 31.18 crore as income via banking means. Regarding expenses, the BJP spent Rs 606.04 crore for election and general ‘propaganda’. In contrast to the Congress party, the BJP spent a mere Rs 69.78 crores for administrative costs.
When it comes to all the seven national parties combined namely – BJP, INC, BSP, NCP, CPM, CPI and TMC, they declared a total income of Rs 1559.17 crore in 2015-16 and declared expenses worth Rs 1,228.26 crore.
This financial declaration by the national parties though hasn’t been without its controversy. As per the report, annual audited reports needed to be submitted by 30 October 2017 but the BJP submitted its on 8 February 2018 and the Congress on 19 March 2018.