regional-parties-income-drops-52-in-fy25-adr

The combined income of 36 recognised regional political parties declined by more than 51 per cent in the financial year 2024-25, while 21 of them spent beyond their declared earnings, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report analysed audited accounts of 36 out of 67 recognised regional parties whose annual audit reports for FY2024-25 were available on the website of the Election Commission of India.

According to the report, the total income of these parties stood at Rs 1,192.94 crore in FY2024-25, compared to Rs 2,463.17 crore in FY2023-24 — a decline of Rs 1,270.23 crore or 51.57 per cent.

The total expenditure declared by the parties, however, reached Rs 1,433.07 crore, exceeding their combined income by Rs 240.12 crore.

ADR said the top five regional parties accounted for nearly 69 per cent of the total income and more than 77 per cent of total expenditure among the parties analysed.

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Among the parties, the Telugu Desam Party declared the highest income at Rs 228.31 crore, followed by the All India Trinamool Congress at Rs 219.35 crore and the YSR Congress Party at Rs 140.39 crore.

On expenditure, YSR Congress spent the highest amount at Rs 340.20 crore, followed by the Biju Janata Dal at Rs 288.44 crore and AITC at Rs 227.59 crore.

The report noted that 21 of the 36 parties spent more than the income they generated during the year. YSR Congress recorded the highest excess expenditure, spending Rs 199.82 crore more than its earnings.

Parties including AITC, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, BJD, Janata Dal (United) and Samajwadi Party also reported expenditure exceeding income.

Voluntary contributions remained the largest funding source, accounting for Rs 702.36 crore or nearly 59 per cent of total income. ADR also flagged delays in filing audit reports, noting that 31 recognised regional parties had not uploaded their FY2024-25 audit reports on the ECI website even 207 days after the deadline.