BJP tops the list of national parties with over Rs.2,243 crore in donations in FY 2023-24

BJP received the highest amount of donations among national parties

The ruling party, BJP, received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over Rs.2,243 crore declared from 8,358 donations, according to a report by poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report, based on data submitted to the Election Commission, highlighted trends in political donations above Rs.20,000.

The total declared donations to national parties stood at Rs.2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions — a sharp 199 percent increase compared to the previous year.

BJP’s declared donations alone accounted for 88 percent of the total. The Congress was a very distant second with Rs.281.48 crore from 1,994 donations. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National People’s Party (NPEP) reported smaller amounts, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) once again declared zero donations above the Rs.20,000 threshold, consistent with its filings for the past 18 years.

Donations to the BJP increased from Rs.719.858 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs.2,243.94 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 211.72 percent increase. Similarly, donations to the Congress rose from Rs.79.924 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs.281.48 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a 252.18 per cent increase, the report said. Over the same period, donations declared by the AAP decreased by 70.18 percent or Rs.26.038 crore, while donations declared by NPEP decreased by 98.02 percent or Rs.7.331 crore, it said

Despite the ECI’s deadline of September 30, 2024, only BSP and AAP submitted their contribution reports on time. BJP submitted its report with a 42-day delay, followed by CPI(M), INC, and NPEP, which submitted it 43, 27, and 23 days late. The report said 3,755 donations to the national parties were made by corporate/business sectors, amounting to Rs.2,262.55 crore (88.92 percent of total donations), while 8,493 individual donors donated Rs.270.872 crore (10.64 percent of total donations) in FY 2023-24.

The report said that 3,478 of these donations were made to the BJP (Rs.2,064.58 crore). The party received Rs.169.126 crore from 4,628 individual donors in FY 2023-24. “The Congress received a total of Rs.190.3263 cr via 102 donations from corporate/business sectors and Rs.90.899 cr via 1,882 individual donors during FY 2023-24,” it said. The ADR said the BJP at Rs.2064.58 crore received more than nine times the total amount (Rs.197.97 crore) of all corporate donations declared by all other national parties for FY 2023-24.

Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs.880 crore to the BJP and INC together and is the top donor to parties that received the maximum donations. Prudent Electoral Trup, earlier known as Satya Electoral Trust, is controlled by Bharati Airtel Groups, Hero Motors, Cadila, DLF, Jubilant Foods, JK Tyres, Torrent Power, DCM Shriram, a big industries consortium. Prudent Electoral Trust donated Rs.723.675 crore to the BJP (32.25 percent of total funds received by the party) and Rs.156.4025 crore to the INC (55.56 percent of total funds received by the party).

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