Bihar polls: Donations for political parties likely to rise

New Delhi, Sept 23: As the elections in Bihar approach, the number of donors for political parties too is expected to shoot up. While the actual amount donated to political parties will be known after the elections, analysts say that the donations this time may overshoot the figures compared to 2010.

Political parties rely heavily on donations for fighting elections and running their daily affairs. They receive huge sums of money in the form of donations and contributions from corporate, trusts and individuals says the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Section 29C of the Representation of People Act, 1951 says that political parties are required to submit contribution details received in excess of Rs 20,000 from any person or a company.

This section has been interpreted by political parties, to include every single donation made above Rs 20,000 by any person at one time.

This section however, would also include in it multiple donations made by the same person, entity or company aggregating Rs 20,000 or above during the year.

How much donation did parties receive in 2010?
Of the 2 National Parties in Bihar, the BJP lead the table with Rs 82,000.50 lakhs collected from donations over a period of 7 years, between FY 2004-05 and 2010-11, followed by the INC with Rs 27,250.48 lakhs collected from donations during the same period.

The JD(U), being the ruling party, has declared its income from donations between FY 2004-05 and 2010-11 to be Rs 2,600.59 lakhs while the Rashtriya Janata Dal has declared its collection from donations to be Rs 1,298.72 lakhs during the same period

Of the two National Parties, BJP has declared that 82.43% of its income has come from donations received between FY 2004-05 and 2010-11 while INC has only 13.57% of its total income derived from donations between the same period.

Of the two Regional Parties of Bihar, JD(U) has approximately 97.48% of its total income coming from donations collected between FY 2004-05 and 2010-11 while RJD has declared that the share of donations from total income is 61.32% during the same period

Share of Donations received in excess of Rs 20,000:
In spite of a total income of Rs 2,00,871.74 lakhs between FY 2004-05 and 2010-11, INC had declared that only 8.85% of its total income is covered by donations above Rs 20,000.

BJP, with a total income of Rs 99,476.67 lakhs, has only 19.46% coming from donations above Rs 20,000 collected during the same period.

RJD had not submitted its donations report for the FY 2004-05 to FY 2007-08 to the Election Commission of India hence total income has been computed from FY 2008-09 to 2010-11 which shows that 45.16% of its total income is derived from donations above Rs 20,000 while JD(U) has a 25.80% share of income coming from donations above Rs 20,000 for all 7 financial years.

Top donors:
Below is the list of top donors. All the figures mentioned are in lakhs:

INC:
General Electoral Trust- 3641
Torrent Power Ltd- 1415
Bharti Electoral Trust- 1100

BJP:
General Electoral Trust- 2607
Torrent Power Ltd- 1300
Asianet V Holding Pvt Ltd- 1000

JD(U):
Shashi Bhushan Saurabh- 104
Jaypee Ventures Pvt Ltd- 100
Bharti Electoral Trust- 100
Videocon Industries Ltd- 100

RJD:
General Electoral Trust- 200
Waluj Component- 100
Bharti Electoral Trust- 100

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