Amidst the recent political shocks and election challenges in West Bengal, a relief news has emerged for former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. According to the latest report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) stood second among the highest earning regional parties of the country. The party declared an income of Rs 219.35 crore in the financial year 2024-25, while it has also received the highest donation of Rs 184.08 crore.
According to the ADR report, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) recorded the highest income of Rs 228.31 crore in the financial year 2024-25. It was immediately followed by Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), whose total income was Rs 219.35 crore. YSR Congress stood third with earnings of Rs 140.39 crore. The report said that the top five regional parties included in the study contributed about 69 percent of the total income. At the same time, 77 percent of the total expenditure was also from these parties.
Trinamool Congress remained at the forefront in the matter of donations.
According to the report, the biggest source of income of regional parties was voluntary contributions and donations. A total of donations and contributions of Rs 702.36 crore were recorded, which is 58.88 percent of the total income. AITC remained at the forefront in this matter. The party received donations of Rs 184.08 crore. After this, YSR Congress got a contribution of Rs 140.05 crore and TDP got a contribution of Rs 85.20 crore. Political experts believe that this figure shows that despite all the political challenges, the ability of Mamata Banerjee’s party to raise funds remains strong.
Income decreased, but expenses increased
The ADR report also revealed that there was a huge decline in the total income of 36 regional political parties. The total income of these parties in the financial year 2023-24 was Rs 2,463.17 crore, which decreased to Rs 1,192.94 crore in 2024-25. That is, there was a decline of 51.57 percent in the total income. However, despite the decrease in income, the expenditure of the parties did not reduce. These 36 parties together spent Rs 1,433.07 crore, which is about Rs 240 crore more than their total earnings.
AITC also spent more than it earned
According to the report, 21 regional parties spent more than their income. Trinamool Congress was also involved in this. AITC showed expenditure of Rs 227.59 crore, which is more than its total income. YSR Congress suffered the biggest loss. The party spent Rs 199.82 crore more than its income. Apart from this, BRS, BJD, Janata Dal United and Samajwadi Party also recorded expenditure more than income.
Crores spent in election campaign
The ADR report said that many regional parties spent a large part of their total expenditure on election campaigning. 15 parties spent more than 55 percent of their expenditure on election campaign. YSR Congress spent the maximum Rs 299.92 crore on election campaign. After this, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) spent Rs 270.66 crore and Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) spent Rs 147.99 crore.
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