With general elections barely six months away,most political parties,except the ruling Congress,have shown a sharp fall in donations from named sources both individuals and companies. Under Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act,1951,all recognised parties have to submit to the Election Commission (EC),by September 30 every year,detailed information,including names of donors,on donations received from named sources exceeding Rs 20,000. According to data available with the EC,the Congress has declared an over nine-fold increase in its collection,with its revenue from named individuals companies growing from Rs 10.93 crore in 2011-12 to a whopping Rs 101.75 crore last year. In 2010-11,the party had received Rs 7.41 crore. Its ally,the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) reported that its revenue from such donations increased from Rs 2.55 crore in 2011-12 to just Rs 5.04 lakh in the last financial year. The BSP,as in the previous years,has once again informed the EC that it didnt receive a single donation above Rs 20,000 in 2012-13. This is what the Mayawati-led party told the election regulator in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011,although its total income for the two years was Rs 172.67 crore all from unnamed sources. The CPIs income from named sources has decreased from about Rs 60 lakh in 2011-12 to Rs 34 lakh in 2012-13. However,the CPI(M) recorded a rise in income from Rs 2.26 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 3.81 crore in 2012-13. Meanwhile,the EC is set to refer to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) the issue of some parties,including the BJP,failing to submit the annual report for 2012-13. According to sources,the BJP is the only major party that has not submitted the report. Under Section 29C of the RP Act,in case parties fail to submit information about donations in excess of Rs 20,000 received by them,their income is treated as taxable. We send information received from parties to the CBDT every year. But,it is not known what action,if any,is initiated by the CBDT against parties that fail to submit the information. Since we are now approaching the general elections,we are planning to ask the CBDT what action,if any,was taken by it against the erring parties, said an EC functionary.
