The Election Commission on Thursday released the 2022-23 annual audit report on political parties. In this it is stated that the regional parties get the most funds through electoral bonds. In this, BRS is at the first position.
BRS was defeated in the recently held Telangana assembly elections. Congress won 64 seats and formed the government. BRS came second with only 39 seats. But in the list of regional parties that have benefited the most through electoral bonds, BRS has occupied the first position. This is disclosed in the latest annual audit reports of the respective parties.
The five regional parties namely Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Trinamool Congress (TMC), DMK, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YCP) have jointly raised Rs 1,243 crore through electoral bonds in the financial year 2022-23. However, the funds for these parties have decreased as compared to the previous financial year. Those parties got Rs 1,338 crore through bonds in 2021-22. But this time BRS collected 3.4 times more donations from individual bonds.
Meanwhile, in the financial year 2022-23, 97 percent of the total income of the Trinamool Congress party, 86 percent of the DMK, 84 percent of the BJD, 70 percent of the YSR Congress party, and 71 percent of the BRS came from electoral bonds. However, Aam Aadmi Party, which is currently the national party, has received Rs.36.4 crores in the form of electoral bonds in 2022-23. That party got Rs. 44.5 crores in 2021-22 and Rs. 85.2 crores in 2022-23. The party’s annual expenditure has increased from Rs.30.3 crores to Rs.102 crores. In 2022-23, AAP’s general campaign expenses increased by 330 percent from Rs.13.7 crore to Rs.58.8 crore. This party, which is currently in power in Delhi and Punjab, has spent Rs.23.6 crores in 2022-23.