New Delhi, Oct 29 Nearly two-thirds of registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) did not have their annual audit statements or contribution reports available in the public domain for 2024-25, even as an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found that 15 such parties declared donations of more than Rs 1,064 crore from contributors giving over Rs 20,000.
The report found that 1,330 of the approximately 2,074 registered unrecognised political parties listed by the Election Commission had neither report available on the websites of state chief electoral officers.
Only 461 parties had both reports available, while 273 had one of the two reports.
The financial disclosures of the parties also showed a concentration of donations among a few recipients.
The New India United Party reported the highest donations above Rs 20,000 at Rs 270.99 crore, followed by Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party at Rs 228.81 crore and Bhartiya Garib Vikas Kalyan Party at Rs 170.04 crore.
Jan Suraaj, which contested 238 seats in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections but won none, declared an income of Rs 101.32 crore, including donations of Rs 99.40 crore, during 2024-25. Its expenditure stood at Rs 9.20 crore, according to the report.
Since then, the party has won a seat in the state assembly with Kishor winning in a bypoll held in July, and has also claimed one seat in the Bihar Legislative Council.
The party’s top 10 donors contributed Rs 97.72 crore through 104 donations, accounting for 80.77 per cent of contributions made by the top 10 donors across the 10 parties analysed in that section of the report. Vedhas Ventures contributed Rs 85 crore to Jan Suraaj through 85 transactions, while party founder Prashant Kishor donated Rs 10 crore through 10 transactions.
The report also flagged inconsistencies in disclosures by 14 parties whose reported donations above Rs 20,000 exceeded the total donations declared in their audit reports. Three parties declared zero in total donations but reported contributions above Rs 20,000.
ADR said the gaps in the availability of financial statements limited public scrutiny of the funding of unrecognised parties. It recommended that state chief electoral officers regularly update their websites with the status of audit statements and contribution reports filed by these parties.
(PTI News)
