A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms on Tuesday dubbed the Samajwadi Party as the richest regional party in India. Out of the 32 regional parties, the SP (income declared - Rs 82.76 crore) was followed by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with Rs 72.92 crore income and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with Rs 48.88 crore.

The SP's income was 25.78 percent of the total income of all 32 parties. The ADR report was based on the income and expenditure of political parties that submitted their audit report to the Election Commission of India for the year 2016-17. The audit reports of 16 parties (besides 32) were not available.

The 16 parties included National Conference, Aam Aadmi Party, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Rs 321.03 crore was the total income of the regional parties, said the ADR. Out of the 32, 13 regional parties reported a hike in income, while 14 claimed a decline.

The rest of the five regional parties - Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Kerala Congress-Mani, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and All India United Democratic Front - did not give details of their income tax return to the Election Commission. 

The Janata Dal-Secular and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), meanwhile, said that they have not spent over 87 per cent of their total respective incomes. The TDP declared that 67 per cent of its income stayed unspent.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Samajwadi Party spent Rs 37.89 crore and Rs 64.34 crore more than their respective total incomes. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’ spent Rs 81.88 crore more than its income.

The Samajwadi Party, led by Akhilesh Yadav, has strong roots in Uttar Pradesh, which is said to be one of the low-income states.