BJP biggest beneficiary of corporate donations, says ADR Report

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Business houses donated a total of Rs 956.77 crore to national parties between 2012-13 and 2015-16, making up 89% of the total contribution from known sources, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Thursday. The BJP, it added, received the most corporate donations at more than Rs 705 crore.

The BJP received the maximum corporate donations of Rs 705.81 crore from 2,987 donors, followed by the Congress which received Rs 198.16 crore from 167 corporate donors, said the ADR, citing filings of political parties made to the Election Commission. The CPI and CPM had the lowest share of corporate donations at 4% and 17%, respectively.

“Between 2012-13 and 2015-16, five national parties received a total of Rs 1,070.68 crore via voluntary contributions above Rs 20,000 out of which 89 per cent of Rs 956.77 crore was from corporates/business houses,” the ADR report said.

Five national political parties considered for the report were the BJP, Congress, NCP, CPI and CPM. The Mayawati-led BSP was not considered for this report despite being a national party as it had declared that it did not receive voluntary contributions above Rs 20,000 from any donor between 2012-13 and 2015-16.