72 pc of parties in Telangana, AP unregistered: Report

Only 31 parties in the two states had uploaded both the audit statement and contribution report on the Chief Electoral Officer's websites.

Hyderabad: As many as 72 per cent of political parties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are unregistered, a study by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed on Thursday, October 29.

The report also highlighted inconsistencies in donation disclosures made by two Telangana-based parties.

Out of a 169 registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) in the two states, 123, or 72 per cent, had neither the yearly audit statements nor contribution reports available on the websites of the respective chief electoral officers.

Out of the 123, Telangana had 78 parties without either disclosure, representing 75 per cent of its 104 RUPPs.

In Andhra Pradesh, 45 of the 65 such parties had not made either report available.

Only 31 parties in the two states had uploaded both the audit statement and contribution report on the Chief Electoral Officer’s websites. Telangana accounted for 17 of these parties, while Andhra Pradesh had 14.

Another 15 parties had only one of the two disclosures available. In Telangana, six parties had uploaded only audit statements, and three others uploaded only the contribution reports.

In Andhra Pradesh, two parties had only audit statements available, while four had uploaded only contribution reports.

The ADR report also highlighted inconsistencies in the financial disclosures of two Telangana-based parties.

A Hyderabad-based political party reported zero income and zero total donations for 2024-25, but disclosed receiving Rs 1.29 lakh in contributions above Rs 20,000. The party reported expenditure of Rs 300 during the year.

It had contested seven seats in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections, polling 49,423 votes without winning any seat.

Similarly, Vishwa Bharath Party, registered in Dec 2021, declared an income of Rs 900, total donations of Rs 200 and expenditure of Rs 5,000.

However, its contribution report showed donations exceeding Rs 20,000, amounting to Rs 30,000. The party contested one assembly constituency in the 2023 elections, securing 55 votes.

The two Telangana parties were among 14 parties across India whose reported contributions above Rs 20,000 exceeded their declared total donations.

ADR noted that the reasons for such discrepancies can be established only after examining the parties’ original accounts and contribution reports.

The report also noted that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) website did not provide consolidated information on the submission status of annual reports for 2024-25.