agencies
New Delhi, August 17: Corporate houses have donated a total of Rs 956.77 crore to national parties between 2012-13 and 2015-16, constituting 89 per cent of the total contribution from known sources, with BJP receiving the maximum Rs 705.81 crore, says a report.
Among the national parties, BJP received the maximum donations of Rs 705.81 crore from 2,987 corporate donors followed by INC (Indian National Congress) which received Rs 198.16 crore from 167 corporate donors, the report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said Thursday, citing filings of political parties made to the Election Commission.
NCP received Rs 50.73 crore, followed by CPM (Rs 1.89 crore) and CPI (Rs 0.18 crore). BSP was not considered for analysis in the report as the party has declared that it received no voluntary contributions above Rs 20,000 from any donor between 2012-13 and 2015-16.
“Between 2012-13 and 2015-16, five national parties received a total of Rs 1,070.68 crore via voluntary contributions above Rs 20,000 out of which 89 per cent of Rs 956.77 crore was from corporates/business houses,” ADR said.
According to an earlier report by ADR, various business houses donated a total of Rs 378.89 crore to national parties, constituting 87 per cent of the total contribution from known sources in eight years, between financial years 2004-05 and 2011-12.
Political parties are required to submit details of donors who have made donations above Rs 20,000 in a financial year to the Election Commission of India, every year. Between 2012-13 and 2015-16, BJP’s and INC’s voluntary contributions above Rs 20,000 from corporate/business houses was 92 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively, the report said.
CPI and CPM have the lowest share of corporate donations at 4 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. National parties received the maximum corporate donations in 2014-15, during which Lok Sabha elections were held, the report by the Delhi-based ADR said.
Corporate donations received in 2014-15 alone form 60 per cent of the total corporate donations received between 2012-13 and 2015-16, it added. It further said that donations from corporates to national parties reduced by 86.58 per cent between 2014-15 and 2015-16.
“Despite not donating during 2012-13, Satya Electoral Trust was the top donor to three of the national parties, between 2012-13 and 2015-16. The Trust donated a total of 35 number of times in 3 years, amounting to Rs 260.87 crore” ADR said.
BJP declared receiving Rs 193.62 crore while INC was the recipient of Rs 57.25 crore of funds from the Trust. General Electoral Trust, which was formed before the Electoral Trust Scheme was launched by the government in 2013, was the second highest corporate donor to BJP and INC. Between 2012-13 and 2015-16, the Trust donated Rs 70.7 crore and Rs 54.1 crore to the two national parties, respectively, ADR said.