NEW DELHI: Congress’s income in 2019-20 declined by 25% to Rs 682 crore as compared to 2018-19, while its expenditure more than doubled to Rs 998 crore from Rs 470 crore over this period, according to its annual audit report for 2019-20 submitted to the Election Commission.
The party’s receipts worth Rs 682 crore in the year 2019-20 mark a significant fall from Rs 918 crore earned by the party in 2018-19, which was immediately followed by the Lok Sabha polls.
Other national parties whose annual audit reports were uploaded on the EC website on Monday are CPM and CPI.
While CPM’s income for the year 2019-20 stood at nearly Rs 159 crore, CPI’s was Rs 6.58 crore.
The expenditure incurred by CPM was Rs 105.68 crore in 2019-20, and that of CPI, Rs 6.53 crore.
BJP’s annual audit report is not yet available.
An EC notification said the last date for submission of annual audit report for 2019-20 had been extended to June 30, 2021 in view of the Covid pandemic.
Both TMC and BSP had submitted their annual audit report for 2019-20 in February 2021.
Congress’s earnings through bonds fell to Rs 318 crore as compared to Rs 382 crore in 2018-19.
Its total donations from the corporate world stood at Rs 94 crore in 2019-20, soaring from Rs 20.62 crore in 2018-19, while contributions from electoral trusts fell from Rs 94.59 crore in 2018-19 to just Rs 1 crore in 2019-20.
Individual donors contributed Rs 23.63 crore to Congress, down from Rs 49.46 crore in 2018-19.
A big chunk of its revenue, almost Rs 192.45 crore, was from issuance of coupons, even though it was much less than Rs 322.59 crore earned through this mode in 2018-19.
Congress spent Rs 864 crore on elections in 2019-20, including Rs 406 crore on election publicity and Rs 5.7 lakh on pre-poll surveys.
CPM registered a 57% surge in its income from Rs 100.96 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 158.62 crore in 2019-20, while its expenditure rose from Rs 76.15 crore to Rs 105.68 crore in the same period.
CPI’s income fell from Rs 7.15 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 6.58 crore in 2019-20, while its expenditure increased from Rs 5.79 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 6.53 crore in 2019-20.