In riches,BSP races past all

Releasing these figures here on Friday,the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said that in comparison,the income of the Congress went up by 125 per cent in the same period of 2008-09 — from Rs 220 crore to Rs 496 crore.

However,the Indian National Congress’s aggregate income of Rs 717.69 crore was the highest among all the parties surveyed. The aggregate income of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was Rs 343 crore and of the CPM Rs 122.53 crore,said the ADR,which is running a campaign called,National Election Watch,to analyse the status of political parties and give suggestions for conducting fair elections.

Anil Bairwal,the national coordinator of the National Election Watch and ADR,said these figures were drawn from the copies of the income tax returns and assessment orders of political parties,obtained through RTI applications.

The parties under observation included the Congress,BJP,BSP,Samajwadi Party,CPI,CPM,RJD and NCP.

The Congress received Rs 598 crore from the sale of coupons and only Rs 72 crore from donations. The BJP,on the other hand,received Rs 297 crore by way of voluntary contributions and donations.

The BSP received contributions of Rs 203 crore. However,unlike other parties which named the contributors,the BSP declared that it did not receive a single voluntary contribution in excess of Rs 20,000. The BSP also collected membership fee,totalling Rs 53 crore,which was the highest of all parties,and Rs 5 crore as interest on deposits.

The lowest aggregate income of Rs 2 crore was declared by CPI,while RJD declared Rs 6 crore,NCP Rs 57 crore and SP Rs 71. The income declared by SP included Rs 46 crore donations,Rs 20 crore interest and Rs 3.7 crore as membership fee.

The INC also owned maximum assets,worth Rs 612 crore,on March 31,2009,followed by BSP’s Rs 286 crore,BJP’s Rs 261 crore,CPM’s Rs 185 crore,SP’s Rs 177 crore,NCP’s Rs 32 crore,CPI’s Rs 7 crore and RJD’s Rs 3.28 crore.

IC Dwivedi,UP state coordinator of National Election Watch,said Bharti Electoral Trust contributed the highest amount of Rs 18 crore to these political parties. The trust donated Rs 11 crore to INC,Rs 6 crore to BJP and Rs 1 crore to RJD in these two years.

Other contributors included Torrent Power Limited,General Electoral Trust,Videocon Industrial Ltd,Adani Wilmer and Enterprises Ltd,Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd,Shri Popatbhai Ukabhai Vekariya,Ambuja Cement,Larsen and Toubro Ltd,Punj Lioyd Ltd,Nirma Chemical Works Ltd and Infina Finance Pvt Ltd.

Anil Bairwal said they had requested the Election Commission of India to get audit of these political parties done by an independent agency like CAG.

“There is a great need to bring financial transparency in the accounts of political parties. The I-T returns and the contribution reports of political parties should be made open for scrutiny by public,” he said.