The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party received donations worth Rs 719.8 crore in the financial year 2022-’23 according to the party’s annual contribution report published by the Election Commission on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

The BJP’s donors included various small businesses, private schools, education and charitable trusts, mining companies, construction firms, waste management companies, distilleries and restaurants, The Indian Express reported.

Plant nurseries, wine shops, flour mills and hardware stores were also among the small businesses that donated to the BJP, the newspaper reported.

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Party leaders including Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttar Pradesh’s Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also among the donors in the last financial year.

This amount includes all donations of Rs 20,000 and above made through cheque, bank transfer, online transaction and the United Payments Interface. It does not include donations received through electoral bonds.

In the financial year 2021-’22, the BJP’s annual audit report had declared donations of Rs 614.52 crore through such means, and Rs 1,033.7 crore through electoral bonds.

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Electoral bonds are monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups can buy from a bank and give to a political party, which is then free to redeem them. The entire process is anonymous since no one is required to declare their purchase of these interest-free bonds and political parties do not need to show the source of the money. Only the total amount received through the electoral bonds is revealed to the Election Commission through the audited accounts statements.

The Election Commission has also published similar reports of other parties.

The Aam Aadmi Party declared Rs 37 crore in donations in the last financial year. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared donations worth Rs 6.02 crore. The Bahujan Samaj Party declared zero donations. The Congress’ contribution report is yet to be published.