Way past the deadline of August 14, the two major national parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) -- have failed to submit the details of their poll expenditure during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to the Election Commission (EC) despite several reminders, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit body.
According to the EC, all recognised political parties need to submit their expenditure details within 90 days of the declaration of results. As the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared on May 16, 2014, the parties should have filed their expenditure statements on or before August 14, ADR said in a release.
The EC’s stipulation follows a Supreme Court judgment regarding submission of election expenditure statements by political parties, which states that “…the political parties shall submit to the Election Commission, for its scrutiny, the details of the expenditure incurred or authorised by the parties in connection with the election of their respective candidates.”
Among regional parties, only 24 out of 49 parties had submitted their Lok Sabha election expenditure statements at the time of this release, ADR said, adding that for greater financial transparency, “it is equally important to file the same within the time limit set by the ECI and endorsed by the Supreme Court of India.”
As per a note on the EC’s Web site, dated September 8, 2014, Congress, BJP and Communist Party of India were the three defaulting national parties along with 46 regional parties, for which notices had been issued to all.
As per the EC’s requirement, all political parties need to submit the details of the total amount received as funds in the form of cash, cheques and demand drafts, and the amount spent at the central, state, district and constituency levels by a party on propaganda, travel expenses, publicity expenses and other expenses.