Crores in donations, offices missing: India Today investigates 'unknown' parties

An India Today investigation found several little-known parties reporting huge donations despite weak or missing offices. The mismatch between declared funding and visible political presence has raised questions over where the money went.

In Short

• Several registered party addresses were locked, vacant or used for other activities
• Bharatiya National Janata Dal reported Rs 957.4454 crore despite having no legislators
• Satyawadi Rakshak Party chief said she was president only in name

Crores in political donations, but little or no visible presence on the ground, an India Today investigation has raised questions over a group of little-known political parties that received hundreds of crores of rupees between 2019 and 2024.

The investigation found several parties whose registered addresses either had no political office, were locked, or were being used for completely different purposes. In some cases, local residents and shopkeepers said they had never seen any political activity linked to the parties at the addresses mentioned in official records.

One of the biggest surprises was the Bharatiya National Janata Dal, which received Rs 957.4454 crore in donations between 2019 and 2024, according to the data cited in the investigation. The party was registered in 2009 and its official address is listed at Meghmalhar Complex in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

When the India Today team reached the address, it found an office and the party's board on the seventh floor. Two employees were present and said the party was handled by S V Gajera, who was not at the office at the time. During a telephone conversation, Gajera declined to provide clarity on the Rs 957.4454 crore donation received by the party.

The party has no MP or MLA, raising questions about the scale of donations it received despite having little visible electoral representation.

LOCKED OFFICES AND MISSING POLITICAL PRESENCE

The New India Party, which received Rs 608.1373 crore between 2019 and 2024, was another focus of the India Today investigation. Its registered address is in Urvi Complex in Naroda, Ahmedabad.

The India Today team found no party board at the complex. The office space on one floor was locked, while the party's office was reportedly located on another floor. Local shopkeepers said party president Amit Chaturvedi does visit the area, but only rarely.

The Satyawadi Rakshak Party received Rs 426.2337 crore during the period, including more than Rs 330 crore in 2023-24, according to the data cited in the investigation.

Its registered address in Anand, Gujarat, was found locked. The India Today team then traced party president Swatiben to her residence. Speaking on camera, she claimed the party had been shut down in 2024-25 and said she had only been the president in name.

She also distanced herself from the money received by the party, saying that donations had been given to someone at the relevant time and that she did not know what happened subsequently.

The scale of the donation compared with the party's electoral footprint is striking. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the party fielded only one candidate.

Rs 220 CRORE DONATION, OFFICE SHUT FOR A YEAR

The Aam Janmat Party received Rs 220.3694 crore between 2019 and 2024. Its registered address is in Raghuvir Apartment in New Naroda, Ahmedabad.

An India Today ground check found that the office at the address had been closed for around a year. Local residents and shopkeepers said the office had operated there earlier but was no longer functioning.

The party's website lists Gaurav Mishra as president and Dharmendra Vaishnav as national treasurer. However, the telephone number listed on the website was found to have incoming services disabled.

Local resident Hitesh Goswami also claimed that police had conducted a raid at the premises around a year ago.

DANCE ACADEMY AT REGISTERED PARTY ADDRESS

The Rashtriya Vikas Party received Rs 207.6342 crore between 2019 and 2024. Its registered address is E-86A, Vishwakarma Colony in South Delhi.

When the India Today team reached the address, there was no political party office. Instead, a dance academy was operating from the premises.

The building owner, Shailav Agrawal, said he had been living at the property for around 15 years. According to him, several tenants had occupied the premises over the years, but the Rashtriya Vikas Party had never operated an office there.

Local residents also said they had never seen a political party office functioning at the address.

NO OFFICE FOUND IN SURENDRANAGAR

The Saurashtra Janta Paksha received Rs 200.4231 crore between 2019 and 2024. An India Today ground check in Vadipara, Surendranagar, Gujarat, found no visible operation of the party from its registered address.

Another party, the Jan Man Party, reportedly received Rs 113.5678 crore during the same period, but its address could not be traced in the investigation.

THE PARTY THAT COULD NOT BE FOUND

The Prabal Bharat Party received Rs 103.8439 crore between 2019 and 2024. Its registered office address is listed in Andahara village under Parsauni in Sitamarhi district, Bihar.

The India Today team reached the area to verify the party's presence. However, no political office could be found.

Local residents also appeared unaware of any political party operating from the location. The investigation has raised questions over how a party with such a large reported donation base operated from the area.

PARTY OFFICE LISTED IN RESIDENTIAL HOUSE

The Bharatiya Jan Kranti Dal (Democratic) lists an address in Sainik Society, Shakti Nagar, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

An India Today ground check found no party office at the address. Local residents said there was no visible political activity from the premises.

The party's Delhi address in Harsaroop Colony, Fatehpur Beri, was also checked. The address turned out to be a residential property where two families were living.

Residents said they had never seen a political party office operating there. They also claimed that police personnel had visited the property a few months earlier and put up a notice.

The location itself is inside a residential lane, raising further questions over the party's declared office address.

QUESTIONS OVER POLITICAL FUNDING

The investigation has highlighted a larger question surrounding political parties that collect substantial donations despite having little visible organisational or electoral presence.

The parties examined in the India Today investigation include the Bharatiya National Janata Dal, The New India Party, Satyawadi Rakshak Party, Aam Janmat Party, Rashtriya Vikas Party, Saurashtra Janta Paksha, Jan Man Party and Prabal Bharat Party.

Together, the donation figures cited for the parties with available data run into several thousand crore rupees over the 2019-2024 period.

The ground checks do not by themselves establish that any donation was illegal or that the parties committed financial wrongdoing. However, the mismatch between the reported donations and the parties' visible political activity, office infrastructure and electoral footprint raises questions that may warrant scrutiny by the relevant authorities.

The central question remains: How did parties with little or no visible presence on the ground receive such large amounts of political donations, and where did that money ultimately go?

- Ends