Representational.
New Delhi: The Indian National Congress (INC) has submitted its audit report to the Election Commission, and it stated that the party's income fell more than 58 per cent in the financial year (FY) 2020-21 from Rs 682.2 crore to Rs 285.7 crore, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.
The report, submitted on March 30, also said that INC's expenditure fell from Rs 998.15 in 2019-20 to Rs 209 crore in 2020-21. It was in 2019-20 that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections occurred.
According to the report, the party's income was Rs 918 crore in FY 2018-19, and it has been on a continuous slide since then.
A majority of income comes from "issuing coupons", which was Rs 156.9 crore. Rs 95.4 crore were accumulated through "grants and donations" and Rs 20.7 crore raised through "fees and subscriptions".
In addition to INC, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU) also submitted their audit reports before EC.
In the case of NCP, income declined from Rs 85.5 crore in FY 2019-20 to Rs 34.9 crore in 2020-21. The party's expenditure also dipped from Rs 108.18 to Rs 12.17 crore.
In the meantime, JD(U) increased its annual income from Rs 23.25 crore in FY 2019-20 to Rs 65.#1 crore in FY 2020-21. The BJP ally's expenditure also jumped from Rs 10.67 crores to Rs 24.34 crore.
TIE reports that the electoral trusts submitted to EC by various political parties revealed that contributions to other parties fell while the BJP's increased.
Also, one of the biggest donors to political parties, Prudent Electoral Trust, has reduced its contributions by more than 9 per cent. In FY 2019-20, it donated Rs 271 crore, while in 2020-21, its donation was Rs 245.7 crore. Its donation to Congress fell sharply by more than 93 per cent, which was Rs 31 crore in FY 2019-20 but 2 crores in FY 2020-21.
Further, donations for the Congress declined significantly, though they increased in FY 2019-20 with Rs 39 crore against Rs 10 crore in FY 2018-19. But, BJP had received the highest contributions that year.