2,044 unrecognised parties continue to collect donations, here is how
Out of the 2,099 political parties in India, 2,044 of them are un-recognised, a latest gazette issued by the Election Commission of India says.
Either newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in Assembly or General elections to become a state party or those which have never contested in elections since being registered are considered unrecognised parties, a report prepared by the Association for Democratic Reforms states.
An unrecognised party does not enjoy all the benefits that recognised parties (Regional and National Parties) do. These include:
- No entitlement to an exclusive allotment of a reserved election symbol to the candidates set up by the party.
- No eligibility for free copies of electoral rolls.
- No authorization for free broadcast/ telecast facilities over All India Radio/ Doordarshan during Assembly and General Elections.
- No eligibility for subsidized land for party offices.
It is to be noted that political parties are completely exempted from paying Income Tax as long as they file their Income Tax returns to the IT Department and submit details of donations received above Rs 20,000 to the ECI, annually. Even if the parties declare that they have not received any amount above Rs 20,000 from a single donor, they would still enjoy tax exemption.
Thus, political parties, once registered with the ECI, irrespective of their status of recognition, can continue to collect donations and enjoy tax exemption, if they satisfy the above two conditions.
This report analyses the contributions reports, submitted by registered unrecognised parties between FY 2013-14 and 2015-16.
Declaration of donations by Unrecognised Parties: FY 2013-14 to 2015-16
a)
For
FY
2013-14,
out
of
1627
unrecognised
parties
only
89
or
5%
filed
their
donations
reports
with
the
ECI
and
declared
an
income
of
Rs
14.03
cr
from
voluntary
contributions.
b)
A
total
of
1737
parties
were
listed
by
the
ECI
as
unrecognised
parties
during
FY
2014-15
out
of
which
only
106
or
6%
submitted
their
contributions
statements
to
the
ECI.
Their
total
declared
income
from
voluntary
contributions
was
Rs
6.86
cr.
c)
1906
parties
were
listed
as
unrecognised
parties
in
FY
2015-16
of
which
only
99
or
5%
submitted
their
donations
report
to
the
ECI,
declaring
a
total
income
of
Rs
4.37
cr
from
donations.
State-wise declaration of donations by unrecognised parties
a)
Between
FY
2013-14
and
2015-16,
the
donations
details
were
declared
by
unrecognised
parties
from
18
States
which
includes
Rajasthan,
Telangana,
Haryana,
West
Bengal,
Tamil
Nadu
and
Maharashtra
among
others.
b)
Unrecognised
parties
of
Rajasthan
declared
a
total
of
Rs
10.79
cr
between
FY
2013-14
and
2015-16,
highest
among
all
states
followed
by
parties
from
Telangana
with
Rs
3.82
cr
and
Haryana
with
Rs
2.74
cr.
c)
It
is
to
be
noted
that
Unrecognised
Parties
from
Haryana,
Uttar
Pradesh,
Tripura,
Karnataka,
Bihar,
Assam,
Himachal
Pradesh
and
Jammu
&
Kashmir
failed
to
submit
their
donations
details
for
at
least
one
of
the
three
years
considered.
Unrecognised parties with highest declared donations, State-wise
a)
Among
parties
of
Rajasthan,
National
Unionist
Zamindara
Party,
declared
the
highest
donations
of
Rs
3.70
cr
during
FY
2013-14
while
Shining
India
Party
declared
the
highest
donations
during
FY
2014-15
and
FY
2015-16,
with
Rs
68.9
lakhs
and
Rs
76.76
lakhs
respectively.
b)
During
FY
2013-14
and
2015-16,
Lok
Satta
Party
of
Telangana
declared
the
highest
donations
with
Rs
190.81
lakhs
and
Rs
28.20
lakhs
respectively.
It
is
to
be
noted
that
2
parties
from
Telangana
declared
NIL
donations
during
FY
2014-15.
c)
Aarakshan
Virodhi
Party
of
Haryana
declared
the
highest
donations
of
Rs
2.34
lakhs
during
FY
2013-14
while
Haryana
Lokhit
Party
declared
the
highest
of
Rs
272
lakhs
during
FY
2014-15.
No
unrecognised
parties
of
Haryana
declared
donations
during
FY
2015-16.
d)
For
details
of
top
20
donors
to
unrecognised
parties,
refer
Annexure.
Unrecognised parties which have submitted donations report for all three years
a)
A
total
of
33
unrecognised
parties
submitted
their
donations
reports
for
all
the
three
financial
Years
considered
for
this
report.
These
include
ten
from
Gujarat,
six
from
West
Bengal,
four
each
from
Tamil
Nadu,
Maharashtra
and
Rajasthan,
two
from
Chhattisgarh
and
one
each
from
Delhi,
Andhra
Pradesh
and
Madhya
Pradesh.
b)
14
out
of
these
33
unrecognised
parties
declared
NIL
donations
for
all
the
three
financial
years.
These
include
six
from
Gujarat,
two
each
from
Rajasthan
and
West
Bengal
and
one
each
from
Andhra
Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh,
Delhi
and
Maharashtra.
c)
Top
three
unrecognised
parties
which
declared
the
highest
total
donations
are
the
Indian
Peoples
Green
Party,
Rastriya
Ahinsa
Mancha
and
Dharmarajya
Paksha.
Unrecognised parties which have declared donations below Rs 20,000
a)
The
Representation
of
the
People
Act,
1951
as
well
as
the
form
to
be
submitted
with
the
ECI,
for
donations
received
during
financial
year,
requires
registered
political
parties
to
declare
details
of
voluntary
contributions
above
Rs
20,000.
b)
42
unrecognised
parties
declared
donations
below
Rs
20,000
in
their
submission
to
the
ECI
for
at
least
one
financial
year
being
considered.
c)
Out
of
Rs
14.03
cr
declared
as
voluntary
contributions
during
FY
2013-14
by
unrecognised
parties,
Rs
9.99
lakhs
came
from
donations
below
Rs
20,000.
Similarly,
Rs
20.79
lakhs
out
of
Rs
6.86
cr
during
FY
2014-15
and
Rs
27.52
lakhs
out
of
Rs
4.37
cr
during
FY
2015-16
were
donations
below
Rs
20,000.
Donations declared - Unrecognised parties vs. recognised State & National Parties:
a)
During
FY
2013-14,
registered
political
parties
declared
receiving
voluntary
contributions
of
a
total
of
Rs
393.18
cr
out
of
which
recognised
parties
(Regional
and
National
Parties)
declared
receiving
Rs
382.15
cr
while
unrecognised
parties
collected
Rs
14.03
cr.
b)
Out
of
a
total
of
Rs
778.08
cr
of
donations
declared
by
registered
parties
during
FY
2014-15,
Regional
and
National
parties
collected
Rs
771.22
cr
while
unrecognised
parties
declared
receiving
Rs
6.86
cr.
c)
While
Regional
and
National
parties
collected
Rs
281.85
cr
during
FY
2015-16,
unrecognised
parties
received
Rs
4.38
cr
in
donations.
Observations
- Only 5% of registered unrecognised parties filed their contributions report to the ECI between FY 2013-14 and 2015-16. Among the parties considered, only 33 submitted their reports for all three years.
- Unrecognised parties from only 18 States and Union Territories filed their contributions report for at least one financial year considered for this report.
- Unrecognised Parties from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Karnataka, Bihar, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir failed to submit their donations details for at least one of the three years considered.
- There are five unrecognised parties which have declared receiving donations in lakhs in one year while declaring NIL donations during the other two years.
- It is to be noted that National Unionist Zamindara Party of Rajasthan, which declared receiving donations amounting to Rs 3.70 cr during FY 2013-14, declared voluntary contributions amounting to Rs 11.56 cr during FY 2014-15 and Rs 6 lakhs during 2015-16 in its audit report but its contributions reports are not available in public domain.
- 42 unrecognised parties declared donations below Rs 20,000 in their submission to the ECI for at least one financial year being considered.
Recommendations
- In 1999, the ECI had issued notices to more than 200 political parties which were registered till 1995 but failed to contest in any elections. Notices to those parties which were returned undelivered or parties which failed to respond to these notices were deleted from the list of registered parties, which added up to 150. Similarly, 255 political parties were 'de-listed' in 2016 from the list of registered parties as they were not active in the political process.This exercise should continue so as to weed out all political parties which do not contest in any election for more than 5 years and also as a means to strengthen the registration process.
- Regulation of registration of political parties is crucial to avoid money laundering, corrupt electoral practices and abuse of money power. Thus, the ECI should impose strict norms for the registration of an association of persons as a political party apart from taking the stringent step of de-recognizing those parties which fail to adhere to the rules.
- Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. This would not only instill confidence of the public in the functioning and finances of political parties but would also strengthen the democratic process by weeding out those political parties which do not function for the benefit of the country and its people.
- IT scrutiny of unrecognised parties should be taken up, especially of those which do not contest in elections but declare voluntary contributions.
- The website of State CEO's should be regularly updated to provide details of status of submission of audit reports and donations reports by unrecognised parties.