Trinamool only national party whose expense exceeded income in FY 20-21: Report

Kolkata, June 17 (IANS) The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) is the only national party whose total expense for the financial year 2020-21 exceeded its total income for the same fiscal.

This has been revealed in a report titled 'Analysis of Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for FY 2020-21', prepared jointly by the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms that was released on Friday.

"AITC's total income was Rs 74.417 crore, while the party spent Rs 132.537 crore, which exceeds its income for that year by 78.10 per cent," the report said.

An analysis of the expenditure pattern shows that Trinamool Congress spent the maximum of Rs 90.419 crore on election expenditure followed by Rs 3.96 crore on administrative and general expenses.

Trinamool leaders, however, remained tight-lipped on this issue.

In terms of share of income remaining unspent during the fiscal under review, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) remained on top. As per the report, during the financial year 2020-21, BSP's total declared income was Rs 52.46 crore, as against the total declared expenditure of Rs 17.29 crore. Thus, the share of income remaining unspent during the fiscal under review stood at 67.03 per cent.

Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was second in terms of share of income remaining unspent during the same fiscal year at 65.13 per cent.

"BJP declared a total income of Rs 752.337 crore during the financial year 2020-21, while it spent 82.46 per cent (Rs 620.398 crore). Congress' total income was Rs 285.765 crore while the party spent Rs 209 crore (73.14 per cent)," the report said.

"The total income of the national parties has been compiled from the income from various sources pan-India, as submitted in their income tax returns," the report added.

The report also mentioned that all the national parties that were reviewed delayed in submitting their audit reports to the Election Commission of India.

As per the report, electoral bonds emerged as the most popular mode of donations to national political parties.