About 55% of the funds received by regional parties in FY20 were from unknown sources, an analysis of the Association for Democratic Reforms shows. ‘Income from unknown sources’ refers to those donations that are made without the details of the donors. These include donations made through electoral bonds, sale of coupons, miscellaneous income and voluntary contributions. On the other hand, when parties provide details of the donors to the Election Commission of India, such donations are referred to as ‘income from known sources’. This constituted only 23% of the total funds received by regional parties in FY20. The rest of the 22% were from other known sources such as moveable and immoveable assets, membership fees and bank interest. Five parties — TRS, TDP, BJD, YSRCP and DMK — received most of their funds through unknown sources, and almost all of them were through the electoral bonds route. 

The chart shows the sources of income of select regional parties in FY20. The total income for the selected regional parties in FY20 amounted to ₹803.24 crore, of which 55% was from unknown sources.

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The chart plots the total income of select regional parties in FY20 against the share from unknown sources. Five parties — TRS, TDP, YSRCP, DMK and BJD — received more than ₹60 crore of funds, of which more than 50% were from unknown sources. The AIADMK, too, received close to ₹90 crore. However, the share of income from unknown sources was less than 10%.

The chart depicts the share of income from unknown sources, under various routes, received by the regional parties in FY20. Nearly 96% of such funds were received through electoral bonds. Other sources such as voluntary contributions and collections from the sale of coupons comprise a very small share of 4%.

Not all regional parties have submitted details of their income and sources to the ECI. A list of such parties:

About 14 regional parties submitted their total income to the ECI, but information about known sources of income was not available. These parties include the RJD, AJSU, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, All India Forward Bloc, Kerala Congress (M), People’s Democratic Alliance, and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.

Two parties — Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference — submitted information pertaining to income from known sources, but their total income was not available.

For nine parties, neither the total income nor the information related to income from known sources was available. Such parties include the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Bodoland Peoples Front, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, and People’s Democratic Front.

Source: Association for Democratic Reforms

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