5 regional parties got over Rs 1,200 crore in electoral bonds in 2022-23

NEW DELHI: Five regional parties – Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Trinamool Congress, DMK, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress – together received Rs 1,243 crore via electoral bonds in 2022-23, as per their latest annual audit reports. While this marks a fall from the Rs 1,338 crore they collectively received from bonds in 2021-22, BRS individually raked in 3.4 times more contributions from bonds during this period.

At 181 crore, TMC’s spend steepest in 2022-23
Electoral bonds contributed 97% of Trinamool’s total receipts in 2022-23, 86% of DMK’s, 84% of BJD’s, 70% of YSR Congress’s and 71% of BRS’s.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), now a national party, received Rs 36.4 crore in electoral bonds in 2022-23, up from Rs 25.1 crore in 2021-22. Its total income grew from Rs 44.5 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 85.2 crore in 2022-23, and its annual expenditure from Rs 30.3 crore to Rs 102 crore in the corresponding period. Interestingly, AAP’s general propaganda expenses surged by 330% to Rs 58.8 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 13.7 crore a year earlier. Public campaign and surveys cost the party, currently in office in Delhi and Punjab, Rs 23.6 crore in 2022-23.

As per annual audit reports for 2022-23 submitted to the EC by the five regional parties, the total income declared by BRS was the highest at Rs 737.7 crore (up from Rs 218 crore in 2021-22), followed by Trinamool at Rs 333.4 crore (down from Rs 545.7 crore), DMK at Rs 214.3 crore (down from Rs 318.7 crore), BJD at Rs 181 crore (down from Rs 307 crore) and YSR Congress at Rs 74.8 crore (down from 93.7 crore). Trinamool’s spend was the steepest in 2022-23 at Rs 181 crore, followed by YSR Congress at Rs 79.3 crore, BRS at Rs 57.5 crore, DMK at Rs 52.6 crore and BJD at Rs 9.9 crore.

The topmost beneficiary from the bonds scheme – which has been criticised by the opposition and is also facing a challenge in the Supreme Court over lack of transparency – was BRS. The party, which was only recently voted out of office in Telangana, received Rs 529 crore from bonds in 2022-23, a huge jump from its Rs 153 crore inflow a year earlier.

Trinamool raked in Rs 325 crore via electoral bonds in 2022-23, DMK Rs 185 crore, BJD Rs 152 crore and YSR Congress Rs 52 crore. In 2021-22, these four parties had received higher amounts through the bonds route, with Trinamool’s inflow at Rs 528, DMK’s at Rs 306 crore, BJD’s at Rs 291 crore and YSR Congress’s at Rs 60 crore.
CPM, another national party whose 2022-23 annual audit report was made public by the EC on Thursday, showed its total receipts at Rs 141.7 crore, down from Rs 162.2 crore in 2021-22 and expenditure at Rs 106 crore, higher than the Rs 83.4 crore incurred in 2021-22.