As much as 67% of donations to national parties in 2018-19 came from “unknown sources,” an increase from 53% in the previous financial year, said a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

About ADR

• The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is an Indian non-partisan, non-governmental organization which works in the area of electoral and political reforms.
• Along with National Election Watch (NEW), ADR is striving to bring transparency and accountability in Indian politics and reducing the influence of money and muscle power in elections.
• The ambit and scope of work in this field are enormous, hence, ADR has chosen to concentrate its efforts in the following areas pertaining to the political system of the country:

1. Corruption and Criminalization in the Political Process
2. Empowerment of the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates and the parties, for a better and informed choice
3. Need for greater accountability of Indian Political Parties
4. Need for inner-party democracy and transparency in party-functioning

income sources of Political Parties

• The total income of the parties was ₹3,749.37 crore, of which ₹951.66 crore was from known donors.
• Electoral bonds accounted for 78% of the ₹2,512.98 crore, or 67%, income from unknown sources.
• While parties are required to give details of all donations above ₹20,000, donations under ₹20,000 and those via electoral bonds remain anonymous.
• Out of the total income from unknown sources, 64% went to the BJP and 29% to Congress.

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