16 regional parties declared receiving 1,026 donations without PAN details: ADR

According to the report, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Lok Janshakti Party, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saw the maximum percentage increase in their income from donations between FY 2018-19 and 2019-20.

New Delhi:About 16 regional parties have declared receiving 1,026 donations worth Rs 24.779 crore without PAN details, according to poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

A report, prepared by ADR, focuses on donations declared by regional political parties during the financial year 2019-20, as submitted by the parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

According to the report, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Lok Janshakti Party, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saw the maximum percentage increase in their income from donations between FY 2018-19 and 2019-20.

"The top five parties, which declared the highest donations in FY 2019-20 are Shiv Sena, AIADMK, AAP, Biju Janata Dal and YSR-C. Out of these parties, SHS, BJD and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party declared a decrease in their donations, while the AIADMK and the AAP declared an increase in donations in comparison to FY 2018-19," the report said.

Maximum donations in cash were declared by the Indian Union Muslim League, which collected Rs 4.63 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu's Pattali Makkal Katchi with Rs 52.20 lakh, LJP with Rs 6 lakh, Nagaland and Manipur's Naga People's Front with Rs 3.92 lakh and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with Rs 29,000.

The report said 16 regional parties have declared receiving 1,026 donations worth Rs 24.779 crore without PAN details.

Out of 53 regional parties analysed, only two had submitted their donation reports to the Election Commission in the stipulated time period and 28 others had delayed their submission by a minimum of six to 320 days. There are 23 regional political parties who have defaulted on the submission of their donation reports to the EC during FY 2019-20, to date.

With regard to the total amount of donations, the Shiv Sena leads with Rs 62.859 crore from 436 donations, followed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which has declared receiving Rs 52.17 crore from three donations.

The AAP declared receiving Rs 37.37 crore that is the third-highest amongst all the regional parties. The BJD and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSR-C) have declared total donations of Rs 28.20 crore and Rs 8.924 crore, respectively.

PTI