Over half of BJP’s declared contributions came from one electoral trust

Prudent Electoral Trust accounted for Rs 336.5 crore of total contributions declared by the BJP in their report published by the Election Commission. The party received Rs 614.52 crore in donations above Rs 20,000 each, while the Congress got Rs 95.45 crore.

The BJP remained the party with the highest contributions, far ahead of the Congress, which at the second spot declared Rs 95.45 crore as its contributions in 2021-2022. (File)

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received over 54% of its declared contributions in 2021-2022 from one electoral trust, the Prudent Electoral Trust, which in turn, got its funds from Arcelor Mittal, Bharti Airtel, Serum Institute of India, Jindal Steel and TVS Motors, to name a few.

According to the party’s contribution report, which covers all donations over Rs 20,000 each, the BJP got Rs 614.52 crore in contributions from individuals, businesses and electoral trusts. The amount, however, does not include other sources of income for the party, including electoral bonds.

Also Read | Prudent Electoral Trust gave over Rs 464.8 cr to parties; BJP got Rs 336.5 crore

Prudent Electoral Trust accounted for Rs 336.5 crore of the total contributions declared by the BJP in their report, which was published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday. In 2020-2021, the party had declared contributions of Rs 477.5 crore.

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The BJP remained the party with the highest contributions, far ahead of the Congress, which at the second spot declared Rs 95.45 crore as its contributions in 2021-2022, an increase from Rs 74.50 crore in the previous year.

In its report, the Trinamool Congress declared Rs 43 lakh as its contributions, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared Rs 10.05 crore. The Bahujan Samaj Party, the National People’s Party and the Nationalist Congress Party, whose contribution reports were published by the ECI earlier this year, had declared nil, Rs 35.43 lakh and Rs 57.90 crore as contributions respectively.

The ECI is yet to publish the contribution report of the remaining national party, the Communist Party of India.

In September, the ECI had proposed reducing the limit of declarable contributions from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000 each. The EC had written to the law ministry proposing amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates that political parties must prepare a report on all donations over Rs 20,000 in each financial year.