Kolkata, Mar 2 (IANS): Trinamool Congress has emerged as the second richest party after BJP in terms of income in financial year 2021-22, as per a report.

According to a report prepared by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the income of different political parties during the fiscal under review, while BJP has continued to be the highest income generating party at Rs 1,917 crore, Trinamool Congress has emerged the second highest on this count at Rs 545.75 crore. Congress has moved to the third position at Rs 541.27 crore.

However, in terms of the percentage of income from electoral bonds of total income, Trinamool Congress has moved to the first position pitting BJP behind them in the second position.

As per ADR report, almost 97 (96.77) per cent of Trinamool Congress's income during 2021-22 has come from electoral bonds. In case of BJP, electoral bonds contribute for just 54 per cent of its total income during the fiscal under review.

On the expenditure side, while Trinamool Congress had spent 49.17 per cent of its total income during the fiscal under review, the figure for BJP during the same period stands at 44.57 per cent. Congress had exhausted almost 74 (73.98) per cent of its expenditure during the financial year under review.

To recall, the system of electoral bonds was introduced by the erstwhile Union finance minister Arun Jaitley. All the opposition parties then demanded more transparency in the system where anyone can have information about income from this source under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.