The income of the Indian National Congress declined by over 58 per cent in financial year 2020-21, down from Rs 682.2 crore in the previous fiscal to Rs 285.7 crore, according to its audit report submitted to the Election Commission.
The party’s expenditure, too, dipped from Rs 998.15 crore in the previous fiscal year, which also happened to be the year of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to Rs 209 crore in FY 2021, the report submitted to the EC on March 30 revealed.
The Congress’ income in FY 2018-19 stood at Rs 918 crore. It has continued to decline since then.
A bulk of the party’s income came from “issuing coupons”, according to the audit report. The party said it received Rs 156.9 crore from it. Another source, “grants and donations”, contributed Rs 95.4 crore, while Rs 20.7 crore came from “fees and subscriptions”.
Other parties including the Nationalist Congress Party and Janata Dal (United) also submitted their audited accounts reports to the EC.
The NCP’s income declined from Rs 85.5 crore in FY20 to Rs 34.9 crore in FY21. Its expenditure also fell from Rs 109.18 crore last fiscal to Rs 12.17 crore in 2020-21.
Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janata Party’s ally JD(U) saw an increase in its annual income from Rs 23.25 crore in FY20 to Rs 65.31 crore in FY21, and the party’s expenses also increased from Rs 10.67 crore to Rs 24.34 crore in the same period.
Last year, data submitted by electoral trusts to the EC revealed a dip in contributions to other political parties while their share for the ruling BJP grew.
The contribution of Prudent Electoral Trust, one of the biggest donors, to political parties declined by over 9 per cent, as it donated Rs 245.7 crore in FY21 compared to Rs 271 crore in FY20. Its share for the Congress dipped by more than 93 per cent, from Rs 31 crore last year to just 2 crore this fiscal, an analysis of its contribution submitted to the EC showed.
Donations for the Congress have shrunk significantly, barring in 2019 when contributions rose from Rs 10 crore in FY18 to Rs 39 crore in FY19. In that year, the BJP received the maximum contributions among political parties.