RUPPs: Inside India’s little-known political parties that recieve millions of dollars

There was little to suggest that the locked flat in Anand, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, was the headquarters of a political party.

There was no signboard, campaign poster or obvious trace of political activity. But on paper, the Satyawadi Rakshak Party had recently received an extraordinary amount of money.

In the financial year ending in March 2024, official records show the Gujarat-based party received more than 3.3bn rupees (approx $35m; £25m) in donations. A few months later, when India held the world’s largest general election, it fielded a single candidate, who lost his deposit.

Its accounts say that 84.8m rupees went towards election campaigning, while more than 3.16bn rupees were listed as spending on “public welfare”.

“We have spent the money on charity but have not maintained records,” said Swati Ben Patel, the party’s president, who lives in the same residential complex as its registered office.

The party is one of more than 2,800 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties, or RUPPs – a vast but little-known tier of Indian politics. These parties are legally registered but have not won enough votes or seats to be recognised at the state or national level.

Some contest elections only sporadically or field a handful of candidates. Yet, like larger parties, they can receive donations and claim tax exemptions. Donors can also reduce their taxable income through eligible contributions.

The rules are intended to support political activity, but tax officials say they can be misused.

A months-long BBC investigation examined six RUPPs that reported some of the largest donations in 2023-24. Together, they received about 17bn rupees, despite fielding just 15 candidates in the 2024 election. None came close to winning.

The gap between the money some parties receive and their limited electoral presence has drawn increasing scrutiny from India’s tax authorities.

An internal Income Tax department document reviewed by the BBC shows that officials have been investigating suspected misuse of RUPPs since at least 2022.

It identifies 55.91bn rupees in suspected bogus political donations made by taxpayers seeking tax benefits, as well as 6.65bn rupees in foreign transactions. It also notes possible violations of tax, foreign-funding and election laws.

None of the six parties examined by the BBC has been publicly named in these wider inquiries. The BBC has not established that any of them committed financial wrongdoing.

But in several cases, it found a striking gap between the way the organisations were described in their records and what reporters encountered on the ground.

Some registered offices were closed or appeared inactive. Party officials sometimes said they did not control their organisations’ finances or could not explain how large sums had been spent.