Report: BJP secured 74% of corporate funding to political parties
The BJP party received a whopping 73.8% of the Rs. 956.8 crore funds corporate houses donated to five national parties over four years, according to a report by the Delhi-based non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The BJP received Rs. 705.8 crore from 2,987 corporate donors from 2012-13 to 2015-16. There are growing calls for political parties to make their election funding more transparent.
Who received what?
The Congress received 20.7% (Rs. 198.2 crore) from 167 corporate donors while the Nationalist Congress Party received 5.2% (Rs. 50.7 crore). The Communist party of India (Marxist) received a paltry Rs. 1.89 crore and CPI Rs. 0.18 crore.
Most BJP funds came from real estate, mining, energy sectors
The ADR report revealed that most of the BJP's donations were from trusts and business houses in the real estate, mining, manufacturing, oil and power, construction, exports/imports sectors. All political parties are required to submit details of donations over Rs. 20,000 to the election commission. ADR didn't consider Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party as it didn't receive any funding over Rs. 20,000 during the period.
BJP a corporate favorite in run up to 2014 elections
The report found that most corporate donors chose the BJP over the Congress even while the former wasn't in power. This clearly demonstrates that the BJP was the favorite to win the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Corporate donations to parties peaked in 2014-15, prior to elections. The BJP secured 89% of corporate donations in 2012-13 and 87% of donations in 2015-16.
