The number of registered unrecognised political parties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019. From 1,112 such parties in 2010, the number of unrecognised registered parties has increased to 2,301 in 2019. Of the total 2,301, only 78 registered unrecognised political parties or 3.39 percent parties in 2018-19 and 82 or 3.56 percent in 2017-18 submitted their contribution details so far to the Election Commission.

These registered unrecognised parties received `90.05 crore in 2017-18 and 2018-19 from 12,998 donors.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysis, Apna Desh Party of Uttar Pradesh declared the highest donations for both financial years combined of `65.63 crore (4300 donations) or 72.88% of the total declared donations by unrecognized parties in their contribution reports of 2017-18 and 2018-19.

As per the notification issued by the Election Commission dated 15th March, 2019, there are a total of 2,360 political parties registered with the Commission. 2,301 or 97.50% of registered political parties are unrecognised parties. The number of registered unrecognised political parties has increased two fold in the last 10 years. From 1112 parties in 2010, the number has spiked to 2,301 in 2019. It is important to note that the number of such parties increases disproportionately during the year of Parliamentary elections especially. Between 2018 and 2019, it increased by over 9.8% while between 2013 and 2014, it increased by 18 percent.

Of the total of 2,301 registered unrecognised parties, 653 parties or 28.38% belong to Uttar Pradesh, followed by 291 parties or 12.65% from Delhi and 184 or 8% from Tamil Nadu.

57 parties of the 138 political parties analysed declared NIL donations or their donations statements were unavailable for either of the two years.

The ADR report said that the contribution reports of a total of only 78 or 3.39% of the total 2,301 registered unrecognised parties is available in the public domain for 2018-19, and for  2017-18, the reports are available for only 82 parties or 3.56% of the total registered unrecognised parties.

“The registered unrecognised parties analysed in this report declared a total of 6860 donations worth `65.45 cr during FY 2018-19 and 6138 donations of `4.6 cr for FY 2017-18, amounting to 12,998 total declared donations of `90.05 cr in two years. Apna Desh Party of Uttar Pradesh declared the highest donations for both financial years combined of `65.63 crore (4300 donations) or 72.88% of the total declared donations by unrecognised parties in their contribution reports of FY 2017-18 & 2018-19.  Of the 138 parties analysed in this report, more than 50 parties’ contribution reports are unavailable in the public domain for either of the two financial years,” the report said.

The report said a total of Rs 54.206 cr (3511 donations) was donated to the unrecognised parties from Gujarat, followed by Rs 12.239 cr (6526 donations) from Maharashtra and `3.294 cr (179 donations) from Uttar Pradesh. The contribution reports of only 3.06% or 20 of the 653 total registered unrecognised parties of Uttar Pradesh are available in the public domain for the year 2018-19. For the year  2017-18, 1.68% or 11 parties’ contribution reports are available on the CEO website of Uttar Pradesh.

In case of Delhi, 6.19% or 18 registered unrecognised parties’ contribution reports are available in the public domain for the year 2017-18. However, none of the parties’ donation statements are available for the 2018-19.