The BJP scored the most in terms of capital, with a towering figure of Rs 1,461 crore.
The total assets of the BJP, India's richest political party, rose by 22.27% in 2017-18 to touch Rs 1,483.35 crore over the previous financial year's declaration of Rs 1,213 crore, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has reported.
According to the election watchdog, the Congress' assets - in contrast - slumped by 15.26% from Rs 854.75 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 724.35 crore in 2017-18. Its ally in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party, did not fare much better with its assets dipping by 16.39% from Rs 11.41 crore to Rs 9.54 crore during this period.
However, not all non-BJP parties scored low on the monetary front. The total assets of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress increased by 10.86% to Rs 29.10 crore in 2017-18, from Rs 26.25 crore the previous year. Likewise, the Bahujan Samaj Party's assets rose to Rs 716.72 crore from Rs 680.63 in 2016-17.
In this case, the assets of political parties include liabilities such as fixed assets, loans, advances, deposits and investments.
The BJP also scored the most in terms of capital, which is the difference between an organisation's assets and liabilities, with a towering figure of Rs 1,461 crore. It was followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party at Rs 714.97 crore and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at Rs 479.58 crore.
According to the report, the total liability of political parties in the country dipped by 27.26% to Rs 374.61 crore in 2017-18 as compared to Rs 514.99 crore the previous year (an average of Rs 73.57 crore per party). "The Congress had declared the highest liabilities of Rs 461.73 crore in 2016-17, followed by the BJP with Rs 20.03 crore," it read. "However, in 2017-18, the Congress declared liabilities amounting to Rs 324.2 crore followed by the BJP with Rs 21.38 crore and the Trinamool Congress with Rs 10.65 crore."
The BJP won 303 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections as compared to the Congress' 52, comfortably crossing the halfway mark of 272 required to remain in power at the centre.
(With inputs from IANS)