Hello,

This week, the Reporters’ Collective reported on the findings of a months-long investigation into the Bharatiya Janata Party’s funds declared for the financial years 2022-2024. As we dug deeper into the Election Commission of India’s contribution reports, a striking pattern emerged: over half of the donors from four Northeastern states had received government contracts. 

This second part of the series builds on our earlier report in which we revealed how a Ghaziabad-based trust—registered to a two-bedroom flat— managed to get the BJP government in Tripura to pass a law enabling it to set up a private university. Around the same time, the trust and its patrons had donated Rs 50 lakhs to BJP. 

Across the Northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur where the BJP is or has been in power, we could draw a trend of correlation between political donations and donors who had received government contracts. 

In Assam, 52.34 % of such funds for the BJP in FY23-24 were from companies and individuals who had secured government contracts or regulatory clearances. In the previous year, this figure was 64.48%. 

Meanwhile, more than half of the donations above Rs 20,000 that the BJP collected from Arunachal Pradesh in FY23-24 also came from those winning state and Union government contractors. In the same year, over 61.7% of this money that the BJP garnered from Tripura was from government contractors. In the previous year, this number was a whopping 84.12%.

While the disclosed, aboveboard funding is small compared to the total money collected and spent by political parties, our second report of the series maps out how the contractor-economy thrives on political patronage in these states—where private capital is scarce and funding from the Union Government shapes most economic activity.

Read the report here: More than Half of BJP’s Funds from Four Northeastern States Came From Those Who Won Gov’t Contracts

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Regards,
Angana Chakrabarti
Reporter
The Reporters’ Collective