Samajwadi Party (SP) is the richest regional party in the country followed by the TDP and the AIADMK, said a report prepared by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO. It was prepared based on the audit reports of 32 regional parties filed with the Election Commission.

According to the report, SP tops the chart with an income of ₹82.76 crore, which forms 25.78 per cent of the total income of all 32 regional parties. TDP, the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, has the second largest financial resources with an income of ₹72.92 cr or 22.71 per cent of the total income of all parties. AIADMK has submitted the details of income worth ₹48.88 crore or 15.23 per cent of the total income of 32 regional parties. The parties that have incurred highest expenditure are SP, which had spent ₹147.1 crore, followed by AIADMK which spent ₹ 86.77 crore and the DMK with ₹85.66 cr.

“The total income of top 3 parties amounted to ₹ 204.56 crore, which comprised 63.72 per cent of the total income of 32 regional parties, collectively,” the ADR report added. The due date for submission of annual audited accounts of 2016-17 for the parties was 31 October, 2017.

“Out of 48 regional parties considered, 12 had submitted their audit reports on time, while 20 have delayed their submission by several days, ranging from13 days to 5 months or 147 days,” the report said. Audit reports of 16 regional parties, including that of AAP, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and Rashtriya Janata Dal are unavailable with the Election Commission, the report said.

The total income of all 32 regional parties for 2016-17 was ₹ 321.03 crore. Out of 32 regional parties, 43.75 per cent or14 parties have shown a decline in their income from 2015-16 to 2016-17, while40.63 per cent or 13 parties have shown an increase in their income. “AIMIM and JD(S) have more than 87 per cent of their total income remaining unspent while TDP has 67 per cent of its income remaining unspent for 2016-17. DMK has declared spending ₹ 81.88 crore more than its income while SP and AIADMK declared spending 64.34 crore and ₹ 37.89 crore more than their total income, respectively,” the report added.

Out of 48 regional parties, audit reports of J&K NPP and UDP are not available for 13 years with the EC. KJP, which gained recognition post Lok Sabha elections 2014, has not submitted its audit report since its inception. Audit reports of INLD, MGP, JKPDP, AIUDF, and Kerala Congress (Mani) are unavailable for 2015-16.

“Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for 75 per cent of the source of funds to be unknown,” the report recommended.

comment COMMENT NOW