DMK 2nd richest regional party in India, income shoots up by over 800%

The AIADMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu witnessed a 73% drop in its income during the financial year 2017- 2018, compared to the previous year. The main opposition party in the state, the DMK, on the other hand, saw a whopping 845% rise in total income for the same period. The figures were released on Thursday by the Association for Democratic Reforms, an election-watch NGO. With the help of data from audited accounts and contribution statements submitted by political parties to the Income Tax Department and the Election Commission of India, the ADR has vetted the financial details of 37 regional political parties across the country.

Samajwadi Party (SP) tops the list of parties with highest income at Rs 47.19 crore, followed closely by the DMK with Rs 35.748 crore in the bank. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) comes third with Rs 27.27 crore. "The total income of top three parties amounted to Rs 110.21 crore, which comprised 46.45% of the total income of 37 Regional Parties, collectively," states the report.

The DMK also reported expenditure amounting to Rs 27.47 crore (second highest for a regional party) during 2017- 2018. However, 23.16% of the party's income remained unspent. Meanwhile, the AIADMK had a declared income of Rs 12.726 crore with a total expenditure of Rs 10.53 crore for that period. Over 17% of its income remained unspent for the financial year 2017- 2018.

S Ramadoss' PMK reported an income of Rs 1.173 crore and expenditure amounting to Rs 1.219 crore. 'Captain' Vijayakant's DMDK reported Rs 87.8 lakh in income and Rs 46.6 lakh in expenditure. While the PMK witnessed a 67% drop in income, it was a rise of 5 percent in total income for the DMDK.

The report observed, “Grant/Donations/contributions, Fees & Subscriptions and Interest Income are some of the most common sources of income that feature amongst the top three across regional parties.” Breaking down the sources of income for each regional party, the report stated that 61.93% ie Rs 22.14 crore of the DMK's income came from 'fees and subscriptions' while interest on bank deposits contributed to 32.95% ie Rs 11.779 crore of its total income. Grants and donations made up for 3.55% or Rs 1.269 crore while 'other income' was 1.57% or Rs 56 lakh.

For the AIADMK, the primary source of its income came from interests ie 85.81% or Rs 10.92 crore. Membership fees and subscriptions brought an 8% income to the party's coffers ie Rs 1.02 crore. Collection from issuance of forms made up 6.13% of the ruling party's income ie Rs 78 lakh while 'other income' stood at 0.05% or Rs 60,000.

The majority of the PMK's income (82.27%) came from fees and subscription: Rs 96.5 lakh while the rest was from grants, donations and contributions: Rs 20.8 lakh or 17.73%. As for the DMDK, local body and membership fees made up its major share of income, amounting to 98.75% or Rs 86.7 lakh. Donations (0.91% or Rs 80,000) and interest on fixed deposit(0.34% or Rs 30,000) made up the rest.

The majority of DMK's expenditure was on administrative and general expenses amounting to Rs 22.299 crore. The AIADMK, on the other hand, spent the most on family benevolent fund payments and medical relief payments, worth Rs 5.807 crore. While the DMK spent Rs 97.7 lakh on employee costs, the AIADMK spent Rs 66 lakh for the same.