The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) raised over Rs 700 crore in 2018-2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Out of this, Rs 356 crore were contributed by Tata Group-backed Progressive Electoral Trust. The revelations came to light after the Election Commission of India(ECI) on Monday, November 11, published the annual contribution reports by the political parties.
The documents submitted pertained to donations of Rs 20,000 and above that was received by the parties through cheques or online payments. BJP had received a total contribution of Rs 741.98 crore in 2018-19 while in 2017-18 it received Rs 437.69 crore.
Meanwhile, Congress raised Rs 146.8 crore in 2018-19, while they had received only Rs 26.66 crore in 2017-18. With a contribution of Rs 55 crore, Progressive Electoral Trust was also the largest contributor to Congress, reported The Times Of India.
As per the documents submitted by the political parties, the corporate contributions to BJP via trusts went upto Rs 472 crores in 2018-19 from Rs 167 crore in 2017-18. While for Congress it went up from Rs 12 crore in 2017-18, to Rs 99 crore in 2018-19.
The second biggest contributor was Prudent Electoral Trust, backed by top corporate houses like Bharti Airtel Group, Hero MotoCorp, Jubilant Foodworks, Orient Cement, and DLF among others. It paid Rs 67.25 crore to the BJP in 2018-19, from Rs 154 crore in 2017-18. The trust’s contribution to Congress went up from Rs 10 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 39 crore in 2018-19.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena declared 130.6 crores, TDP Rs 26.2 crore, and YSR Congress Party, Rs 80.6 crore for 2018-19.
As per the election code, it is mandatory for the political parties to disclose all donations received in a financial year. However, the parties have not yet declared the donations received through electoral bonds in the last fiscal year.
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