The BJP, Congress, and CPI(M) flags.
Credit: PTI Photos, Special Arrangement
Many of the major parties, including the Congress, saw a decline in donations it received in 2024-25 compared to the previous fiscal even as ruling BJP garnered the maximum amount of donations.
The ruling party saw nearly 53 per cent rise compared to what it got in 2023-24, according to contribution and audit reports submitted by parties to the Election Commission.
The last quarter of 2023-24 and first quarter of 2024-25 coincided with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in April-May and parties received more donations during the period.
Parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, YSR Congress, BJD, TDP and BRS saw a decline in donations it received in 2024-25 while BJP, JD(U), Samajwadi Party and CPI(ML)L among others saw a rise in donations it received during this period.
While BJP got Rs 6,088 crore donations in 2024-25 as against Rs 3,967 crore in 2023-24, a 53 per cent rise, Congress saw its donations declining from Rs 1,129.66 crore to Rs 522.13 crore.
BJP’s donations were 12 times that of the Congress, which saw Rahul Gandhi giving Rs 2.30 lakh, P Chidambaram Rs 3 crore, Priyanka Gandhi Rs 2.30 lakh and KC Venugopal Rs 1.90 lakh to their party.
While BJP has submitted its Contribution Report, its audit report is not available on EC website. Congress audit report 2024-25 showed that it spent a total of Rs 1,111.94 crore of which Rs 896.22 crore were spent on elections. The expenditure included Rs 147.2 crore for aircraft/choppers and Rs 451.27 crore for publicity through electronic media.
Trinamool Congress’s donations dwindled from Rs 646.39 crore to Rs 184.08 crore while its total expenditure was Rs 227.59 crore, of which election expenditure accounted for Rs 137.58 crore. YSR Congress’ donations declined to Rs 140.05 crore from Rs 184.11 crore while its election expenditure was Rs 299.92 crore, including 2.14 crore spent on star campaigners.
TDP saw donations sliding down to Rs 85.20 crore from Rs 274.65 crore while BJD’s report showed a decline to Rs 60 crore from Rs 245.5 crore. Andhra Chief Minister and party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and TDP heir apparent Nara Lokesh donated Rs 99,999 each.
CPI(ML)L saw its donations rising from Rs 94.63 lakh to Rs 2.98 crore, with celebrated writer Arundhati Roy, who gave Rs one lakh, among the donors. It spent Rs 1.69 crore on elections in 2024-25.
BJD spent Rs 270.66 crore for election in 2024-25, including Rs 6.02 crore for pre-poll surveys and Rs 2.25 crore for post-poll survey. JD(U)’s donations rose to Rs 18.69 crore from Rs 4.35 crore while Samajwadi Party saw its donations rising from Rs 48.22 lakh to Rs 93.47 lakh.