They are also supposed to file expenditure reports within 90 days of a Lok
Sabha general election. Both the BJP & Congress are yet to submit audit
reports for 2018-19 and have not yet submitted expenditure report for the Lok
Sabha elections. Financial transparency of politicalparties is important for the effective working of democracy. Since most of thepolitical parties depend on funding from multiple sources, it becomesimperative that funding does not become a vehicle for exchanging favours. Henceit is all the more significant that there is transparency in political funding.Various democratic countries have enacted laws which lay down the proceduresfor political funding, spending and other aspects to bring in transparency inpolitical funding. What about India? In India, the Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring expenditure& disclosures related to political parties, as per the laws made related toelection process and political parties. As per Section 29C of the Representation of The PeopleAct, 1951, every party which is registered under Section 29 A is required to submit the followingto the ECI every year. Along with these two reports whichare submitted annually, political parties are required to submit theirexpenditure report post the elections, and within 75 days after State general electionsand 90 days after Lok Sabha general elections. As on date, only 3 recognized National Parties submitted ‘Annual Audit Reports’ for 2018-19 Currently, there are 7 politicalparties recognized as National Parties in India. All the recognizedpolitical parties are required to submit their Audited Annual Reports. Of these seven, only 3 have submitted their audit reports so far for the year 2018-19. They are, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M). Both the BJP & the Congress are yet to submit the audit report. All the political parties arerequired to submit the annual audit reports by 31st October every year. Only the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ has managedto submit the audit reports on time for the last two years. A look at the previous year’s submission dates reveal that thefour parties which are yet to submit the annual audit reports have a history oflate submission. However, all the 7 National Partieshave submitted Contribution Reports. Furthermore, only BSP, INC and NCPhave submitted the contribution report prior to the cut-off date of 30th September. As for Expenditure Report which needs to be filed within 90days after Lok Sabha elections, the two largest National parties of BJP and INChave not yet submitted the same. Lok Sabha elections concluded on May 19, 2019. The Status of submission ofExpenditure Report and Contribution Report by each of the recognized Nationalparties is given below The income for 2018-19 has increased for both Trinamool Congress and BSP in 2018-19 Income of Trinamool Congress hassignificantly increased for financial year 2018-19, compared to 2017-18. For2017-18, the income as per the annual audit report was around ₹ 5.2 crores which increased to ₹ 192.7 croresin 2018-19 i.e. an increase of 37 times. Even though the expenditure has notincreased to this extent, there has been a significant increase in it as well.Trinamool Congress reported expenditure of ₹1.8 crores in 2017-18 which increased to ₹ 11.5 crores in 2018-19. BSP also reported an increase inboth its income & expenditure. In 2017-18, BSP showed an annual income of ₹ 51.7 crores which increased to ₹ 69.8 crores in 2018-19. However, the proportionate increase in theirexpenditure has affected the year end surplus. For 2017-18, the expenditure wasshown as ₹14.8 crores which increasedsignificantly in 2018-19 to ₹ 48.9 crores. Meanwhile, CPI(M)reported a slight fall in both the income received and the expenditure for2018-19. The major reason for the increase in income in 2018-19 could be theLok Sabha general elections, before which political parties could have raisedfunds. Trinamool’s increased income is due to increased Donations For the year 2018-19, Trinamool Congress received contributions/donationsworth ₹141.5 crores, which is a steep increasecompared to 2017-18, when it received donations and contributions worth ₹ 0.3 crore. Out of these total donations, ₹ 44.3 crores were received fromdonations/contributions worth more than ₹ 20,000 and hence the details of the donors are available. Furthermore,97% of these donations above ₹20,000 are received from a singlesource – ‘Progressive Electoral Trust’, which contributed ₹ 42.9 crores.