New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s income has gone up to 81% at Rs 1,034 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 570 crore in 2015-16. As per BJP’s annual audit report submitted on Febuary 8, its total receipts for 2016-17 matched the receipts (Rs 1,033 crore) of all seven national parties, including BJP, put together in 2015-16. BJP’s income constituted roughly two-thirds of the combined income of Rs 1,559 crore for all national parties in 2016-17. So, BJP alone earned double of the other six national parties (Congress, BSP, Trinamool, CPM, CPI and NCP) put together in 2016-17.

Aaccording to updated annual audit reports filed with the Election Commission, this is much higher than the Congress share during the tenure of UPA between 2004-05 and 2013-14. The Congress share touched a high of 58% in the first year of UPA-I. By the last year of UPA-II, 2013-14, it was down to 39%, below BJP’s share of 44% for the same year.

Of BJP’s income, Rs 997 crore came from voluntary contributions. Of this, Rs 533 crore was received in contributions exceeding Rs 20,000 each. BJP’s total expenditure was Rs 710 crore, leaving it with unspent income of Rs 324 crore, almost Rs 100 crore more than Congress’s income of Rs 225 crore in 2016-17.

For Congress, this represented a fall from Rs 261 crore declared in 2015-16. A good chunk of Congress' income, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), came from issuance of coupons (Rs 115.6 crore). The party’s expenditure exceeded its income by almost Rs 96 crore, as per the annual audit report filed by the party on March 19, 2018.