BSP's bank balance is Rs. 670cr, highest among all parties
What's the story
At Rs. 670 crore, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has the highest bank balance among all parties, TOI reports. The amount has been deposited in eight bank accounts of public sector banks in NCR, the report added. BSP's rival-turned-ally took the second spot in the chart with a bank balance of Rs. 471 crore. Congress came third with Rs. 196 crore. Here's more.
Money
BSP also has Rs. 95.94 lakh cash in hand
The data was revealed in an expenditure report which BSP submitted to Election Commission on February 25. BSP, which failed to win even one seat in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 parliamentary polls, added that it had Rs. 95.54 lakh cash in hand. Notably, SP's bank balance dipped after recent assembly polls of some states- namely Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram.
Parties
Interestingly, TDP trumped BJP in this race
With Rs. 196 crore, Congress took the third spot. Further, Congress submitted its details to EC on November 2, 2018, and the party hasn't updated it after winning three assembly elections in Hindi heartland. The fourth spot was taken by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which has a bank balance of Rs. 107 crore. Interestingly, BJP is poorer than TDP with a balance of Rs. 83 crore. CPM and AAP have Rs. 3 crore each as their bank balance.
Question
Why is BJP "lagging behind"? Here's a possible explanation
The BJP's position in the chart begs the question: If the party is leading in contributions, including those which come through contentious electoral bonds, how is it poorer than others? Apparently, BJP, which is the biggest receiver of funds, is also the biggest spender. BJP has spent Rs. 758 crore out of Rs. 1,027 crore it received during 2017-18, the party claimed.
Donations
Parties earn the maximum through donations
According to the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, BJP raised the maximum funds among all parties. It collected Rs. 1,034 crore in 2016-17 and Rs. 1,027 crore in 2017-18. Between 2016 and 2017, Congress' income was shown as Rs. 225 crore. The details of income in the subsequent financial year hasn't been revealed. About 87% of the income, come through voluntary contributions.