YSR Congress Party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) spent far more than what they earned during FY 2024-25, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which analysed the audit reports of regional political parties submitted to the Election Commission of India.
The report showed that YSR Congress declared an income of ₹140.38 crore during the financial year, but its expenditure shot up to ₹340.20 crore – nearly ₹199.81 crore more than its total income.
BRS too reported expenditure exceeding its earnings. While the party declared an income of ₹123.67 crore, its expenditure stood at ₹180.59 crore, resulting in a deficit of ₹56.92 crore.
The ADR report noted that YSR Congress recorded the highest expenditure among all regional parties analysed in the report, while BRS stood fourth in total spending.
Election expenditure formed the biggest share of spending for both parties. YSR Congress spent ₹299.92 crore on election campaign expenditure alone, accounting for more than 88% of its total expenditure.
Similarly, BRS spent ₹147.99 crore on election expenditure, which made up nearly 82% of its overall expenditure for the year.
The report further highlighted that YSR Congress depended almost entirely on donations and contributions for its income. Out of its total income of ₹140.38 crore, ₹140.05 crore came through donations and contributions.
In the case of BRS, the biggest source of income was deposits with scheduled and non-scheduled banks, which accounted for ₹107.96 crore or over 87% of its total income. Donations and contributions formed ₹15.09 crore of the party’s earnings.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) emerged as the regional party with the highest declared income in FY 2024-25 at ₹228.31 crore. Unlike YSR Congress and BRS, TDP reported a large surplus after spending ₹61.33 crore, leaving an unspent income of ₹166.98 crore.
The ADR report also revealed a sharp fall in the overall income of regional parties. The combined income of 36 regional parties dropped from ₹2,463.17 crore in FY 2023-24 to ₹1,192.94 crore in FY 2024-25 – a decline of over 51%.
