Chennai: The DMK has been out of power in Tamil Nadu for two consecutive terms and been in the Opposition benches for a good part of the last three decades, yet the Dravidian giant has shown stupendous growth in its income, in fact registering a staggering 845 per cent rise in total earnings in 2017-18 financial year. In fact, the DMK with Rs 35.748 crore in the bank has emerged at the second-top slot below UP’s Samajwadi at Rs 47.19 crore, among the richest regional parties in the country.
Equally interesting is another piece of data released by the Association for Democratic Reforms, a highly credited Delhi-based NGO working with elections and public data. The AIADMK has registered a drop of 73 per cent in income during the same period, declaring income of Rs 12.726 crore as against total expenditure of Rs 10.53 crore-mostly on donations, fund payments and medical relief payments.
The AIADMK got most of its income from bank interests 85.81 per cent or Rs 10.92 crore. Membership fees and subscriptions made up 8 per cent income - Rs 1.02 crore; collection from the issuance of enrolment forms made up 6.13 per cent (Rs 78 lakh) while its ‘other income’ was shown as 0.05 per cent (Rs 60,000).
Among the 37 regional parties that figured in the ADR data, 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 per cent of the total income of 37 regional parties, collectively,” states the ADR report compiled from the audited accounts and contribution statements submitted by political parties to the Income Tax Department and the Election Commission of India.
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. The PMK reported an income of rRs 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. The general trend among regional parties is a decline, with total Income of 34 regional parties decreased from Rs 409.64 crore in FY 2016-17 to Rs 236.86 crore in FY 2017-18, a decrease of 42 per cent or Rs 172.78 crore.
