New Delhi: Politics appears to be a profitable business, as India’s six national parties together registered a total income of Rs.991.2 crore in 2012-13, while they spent Rs.648.7 crore, according to data compiled by a think tank.
The figures come from an analysis of income tax returns of the political parties, even as they continue refusing to furnish details of the donations and funds received, thus keeping their real income in the dark.
Figures from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) showed that the Congress, which was voted out of power in the recent general election, had the highest income of Rs.425.69 crore.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), erstwhile opposition party and now in power, was second at Rs.324.16 crore.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with 126.09 crore is a distant third, followed by Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) with Rs.87.63 crore, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with Rs.26.56 crore, and CPI with Rs.1.07 crore.
