Congressional donations are down nearly 75%, the steepest decline in a decade
A comparison with the previous 12 financial years shows that the last steeper decline was in 2015-16, when Congress’s disclosed donations fell by about 86% from ₹ 141.46 crore in the previous year. File | Photo credit: ANI
The Congress party’s income from donations above ₹20,000 plunged nearly 75% to ₹130.69 crore in 2025-26, the steepest annual decline in such contributions in a decade, an analysis of party filings with the Election Commission shows.
The party received ₹517.39 crore in such contributions in 2024–25, according to the 2024–25 contribution report submitted to the commission.
A comparison with the previous 12 financial years shows that the last steeper decline was in 2015-16, when Congress’s disclosed donations fell by about 86% from ₹ 141.46 crore in the previous year.
The latest decline follows two years of higher collections. The Congress received ₹281.48 crore in disclosed donations in 2023–24, rising to ₹517.39 crore in 2024–25, the year the Lok Sabha elections were held.
The BJP received ₹6,074.02 crore in donations in excess of ₹20,000 in 2024-25, almost 12 times the collection of the Congress. The corresponding BJP figure for 2025-26 is not available as the ECI has not yet released the report on the party’s contribution.
The BJP has collected more than the Congress in each of the 12 financial years under review.
Funding through the Prudent Electoral Trust accounted for a substantial portion of the most recent congressional decline. The trust’s contribution fell from ₹216.34 crore in 2024–25 to ₹25 crore in 2025–26, a decline of about 88%.
Prudent was the only electoral trust listed in the latest party contribution report.
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Other major contributors included Star Cement who gave ₹5 million, Sajjan Bhajanka who contributed ₹4 million and Prem Kumar Bhajanka who donated ₹2 million.
Congressional fundraising in 2025–26, while significantly lower than the previous year, was not the lowest in the period under review.
Its disclosed donations were lower in several earlier years, including ₹74.52 crore in 2020–21, ₹95.46 crore in 2021–22 and ₹79.92 crore in 2022–23.
These data do not include election bonds, which were reported separately when the system was in operation. Including bond yields in earlier years, the last congressional collection in 2025-26 was the lowest since 2020-21.
The statement of contributions does not show the party’s total income, which also includes smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest.
The audited account of Congress for 2025-2026, which has not yet been uploaded, is needed to determine its overall financial position. In 2024–25, voucher collections alone fetched the party ₹350.12 crore.
Published – November 8, 2026 12:56 PM IST