Six Gujarat-based registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) together received donations of around Rs 1,700.78 crore during 2023-24, despite having a very limited presence in electoral contests, according to an investigation by BBC Hindi.

The combined income of these six parties was more than Rs 200 crore higher than the total income of five national parties — Congress, CPM, AAP, BSP and National People’s Party — during the same financial year. The five parties together reported an income of Rs 1,480.43 crore.

Six parties received most of the donations

The party that received the highest amount was the Aam Janmat Party, which reported donations of Rs 620 crore in 2023-24, up sharply from Rs 216 crore the previous year. The party fielded just one candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The Satyawadi Rakshak Party, headquartered in Anand, received Rs 330.55 crore. Its audit report showed expenditure of Rs 8.48 crore on the Lok Sabha campaign and Rs 316 crore on social welfare activities. It too fielded one candidate.

The other four parties were the Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party, which received Rs 219.69 crore; New India United Party, Rs 200.69 crore; Bharatiya National Janta Dal, Rs 191.61 crore; and Gareeb Kalyan Party, Rs 138 crore.

Very few candidates despite huge income

The BBC investigation found that the six parties together fielded only 15 candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This compares with 893 candidates fielded by the five national parties excluding the BJP.

The report said several party offices were found closed, while office-bearers were either unavailable or declined to comment. The investigation also clarified that it was not alleging financial wrongdoing by the parties, but questioned the unusual gap between their reported donations and electoral activity.

ADR had already flagged the trend

The findings follow concerns raised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Its July 2025 report said five Gujarat-based RUPPs had collectively earned Rs 2,316 crore between 2019 and 2024.

ADR had also noted that around 73 per cent of nearly 2,800 registered unrecognised political parties had not made their financial records public.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes had separately raised concerns in December 2025 over alleged misuse of RUPPs and charitable institutions for bogus donation-related tax claims. It said enforcement agencies had found some non-operational parties being allegedly used as conduits for routing funds, hawala transactions, cross-border remittances and issuing bogus donation receipts.

The developments have renewed questions over financial transparency, electoral participation and regulatory oversight of registered unrecognised political parties.