New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): The Congress party recorded a nearly 75 per cent decline in donations exceeding Rs 20,000 in the financial year 2025-26, with its disclosed contributions falling to Rs 130.69 crore from Rs 517.39 crore in the previous year. The drop marks the steepest annual decline in such donations in a decade, an analysis of the party’s filings with the Election Commission shows.
The figures come from the party’s contribution reports submitted to the poll body. Congress had reported Rs 281.48 crore in donations above Rs 20,000 in 2023-24, before its collections rose significantly during the 2024-25 Lok Sabha election year.
A comparison of the past 12 financial years shows that the previous sharper decline occurred in 2015-16, when the party’s disclosed contributions fell by around 86 per cent from Rs 141.46 crore in the preceding year.
Prudent Electoral Trust Contribution Drops 88%
A major factor behind the latest decline was the sharp reduction in contributions from Prudent Electoral Trust. Its donation to Congress fell from Rs 216.34 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 25 crore in 2025-26, a decrease of approximately 88 per cent.
Prudent was the only electoral trust named in the party’s latest contribution report.
Other major contributors included Star Cement, which donated Rs 5 crore, Sajjan Bhajanka, who contributed Rs 4 crore, and Prem Kumar Bhajanka, whose donation stood at Rs 2 crore.
Despite the steep year-on-year fall, the Congress collection was not the lowest during the 12-year period examined. The party had reported smaller contributions in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, when it received Rs 74.52 crore, Rs 95.46 crore and Rs 79.92 crore, respectively.
BJP Donations Nearly 12 Times Congress Collection In 2024-25
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reported donations of Rs 6,074.02 crore above Rs 20,000 in 2024-25, nearly 12 times the Congress figure for the same financial year.
The BJP received higher disclosed donations than Congress in each of the 12 financial years covered by the comparison. However, its contribution report for 2025-26 has not yet been made public by the Election Commission, so a comparison for the latest financial year is not available.
Electoral Bonds And Other Income Not Included
The contribution figures do not include electoral bond receipts, which were disclosed separately during the years in which the scheme was operational. When those receipts are taken into account for earlier years, Congress’s 2025-26 collection was its lowest since 2020-21.
The report also does not represent the party’s complete income. Its overall finances include smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest earnings, among other sources.
Congress’s audited accounts for 2025-26 have not yet been uploaded. These will be required to assess the party’s total income and overall financial position for the year.
In 2024-25, coupon collections alone contributed Rs 350.12 crore to the party’s income, highlighting why the disclosed donations above Rs 20,000 should not be treated as its entire fundraising total.
