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How Indian political parties generate funds

Last updated on: September 14, 2010 19:01 IST
A Congress supporter wears a Sonia Gandhi tag
The Indian National Congress sold coupons worth Rs 600 crore to generate party funds during 2007-09 while most of the other political parties were dependent on voluntary donations for fund raising.

The oldest political party, Congress, generated Rs 598.4 crore during 2007-08 and 2008-09 through the sale of coupons while it received donations of Rs 72 crore.

The party also generated Rs 38 crore as interest during the period, reveal income tax returns filed by the party.

The Left collects a 'levy' from its members

Last updated on: September 14, 2010 19:01 IST
A BJP supporter wearing a mask of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi at a rally in Delhi
The Bhartiya Janta Party's funds were mainly sourced from voluntary donations during the period which amounted to Rs 297.7 crore while interest of Rs 21.29 crore and "Ajiwan Sahyog Nidhi" were the other sources.

The Bahujan Samaj Party also relied on "contributions" of Rs 202.94 crore while membership and interest worth Rs 43.20 crore and Rs 5.18 crore contributed respectively, the data received by Association of Democratic Reforms, a voluntary group, through RTI revealed. 

The Communist Party of India-Marxist collected a 'levy' of Rs 46 crore while the Nationalist Congress Party got Rs 50 crore from the sale of coupons, it shows.

BSP has maximum growth in income

Last updated on: September 14, 2010 19:01 IST
A CPM worker paints his party's symbol on a wall in Siliguri
The Congress party's major expenditure during the period was incurred on election -- Rs 215 crore -- while spent nearly Rs 58 crore on publicity. The party also distributed aid worth Rs 56 crore to "others."

The BJP spent Rs 89.16 crore on advertising and publicity while the BSP made purchases worth Rs 85 crore on immovable properties.

During the period, Congress has declared the "maximum aggregate income" of Rs 718 crore followed by BJP which has declared assets worth Rs 344 crore and BSP Rs 252 crore, it said.

Mayawati's BSP has shown maximum growth in terms of total income of Rs 69.74 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 182 crore in 2008-09 which is nearly 161 per cent while NCP shows a growth of nearly 130 per cent followed by Congress which shows an increment of 125 per cent.

The Communist Party of India is the only party whose income dipped during the period. From Rs 1.24 crore in 2007-08, the income of the party has dipped to Rs 1.16 crore in 2008-09 which is a decline of 6.45 per cent.
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