Odisha’s Ruling BJD Got Highest Donation Among State Parties In Last 6 Years: Report

Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha received Rs 692.609 crore as donations between FY 2016-17 and 2021-22, the highest among regional parties analysed by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

According to the report, 89.81% of BJD’s total donations came from Electoral Bonds worth Rs 622 crore. “DMK declared the second highest donations from bonds of Rs 431.50 crore (90.703% of its total donations) followed by TRS which declared Rs 383.6529 crore (80.45%) and YSR-C which declared Rs 330.44 crore (72.43%),” it said.

More than 52% of BJP’s total donations came from Electoral Bonds worth Rs 5271.9751 crore, while all other National parties amassed Rs 1783.9331 crore. The INC declared the second highest donations from bonds of Rs 952.2955 crore (61.54% of its total donations) followed by AITC with Rs 767.8876 crore (93.27%).

“Electoral Bonds are the most preferred mode of donations for making contributions to National and Regional political parties amounting to Rs 9188.35991 crore, followed by direct corporate donations worth Rs 4614.53 crore.”

The report further said that the total direct corporate donations declared by National and regional parties were Rs 3,894.838 crore and Rs 719.692 crore respectively. “The direct corporate donations declared by 7 National parties are more than five times the corporate donations declared by 31 Regional Parties during the six-year period.”

The regional parties that declared receiving maximum direct corporate donations during this period include SHS, YSR-C, JDU, TRS, BJD, AAP, AIADMK, SP, SAD, TDP and DMK.  The BJD has declared the highest of 67.286 crore followed by TRS (Rs 56.50 crore) from top 10 corporate donors.

In the six-year period, direct corporate donations declared by regional parties increased by 152.029%, the report added.