Only 11.89 per cent of the Congress income and 22.76 per cent of the BJP income in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial year have come from donations received in excess of Rs. 20,000, the two parties have claimed in contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission of India.
In a detailed analysis of the Income Tax returns filed and donations received by the political parties, the National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms have raised several questions on the lack of transparency regarding the source of funds that the parties claimed to have received in the past years.
According to the I-T returns filed by various parties and contribution reports submitted to the EC which are accessed by these two organisations through the Right to Information Act, the top five parties with the highest income between 2004-05 and 2010-11 were: the Congress with Rs. 2,008 crore, the BJP - Rs. 994 crore, the BSP – Rs. 484 crore, the CPI(M) – Rs. 417 crore and the SP – Rs. 279 crore.
While donations and voluntary contributions accounted for a major source of income, donations from named contributors (those who donated more than Rs.20,000 and are to be mandatorily declared) formed a very small percentage of the total income of the parties.
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