The BJP received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over ₹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 ₹20,000.
Also read | The need to disclose political donations
The total declared donations to national parties stood at ₹2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions — a sharp 199% increase compared to the previous year.
BJP’s declared donations alone accounted for 88% of the total. The Congress was a very distant second with ₹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 ₹20,000 threshold, consistent with its filings for the past 18 years.
Donations to the BJP increased from ₹719.858 crore in FY 2022-23 to ₹2,243.94 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 211.72% increase. Similarly, donations to the Congress rose from Rs 79.924 crore in FY 2022-23 to ₹281.48 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a 252.18% increase, the report said.
Over the same period, donations declared by the AAP decreased by 70.18% or 426.038 crore, while donations declared by NPEP decreased by 98.02% or ₹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 ₹2,262.55 crore (88.92 per cent of total donations), while 8,493 individual donors donated ₹270.872 crore (10.64% of total donations) in FY 2023-24.
The report said that 3,478 of these donations were made to BJP (₹2,064.58 crore). The party received ₹169.126 crore through 4,628 individual donors in FY 2023-24.
“The Congress received a total of ₹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 BJP at ₹2064.58 crore received more than nine times the total amount (₹197.97 crore) of all corporate donations declared by all other national parties for FY 2023-24.
Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of ₹880 crore to BJP and INC together and is the top donor to parties that received the maximum donations.
The Trust donated ₹723.675 crore to the BJP (32.25% of total funds received by the party) and ₹156.4025 crore to the INC (55.56 per cent of total funds received by the party).
Triumph Electoral Trust donated ₹127.50 crore in four donations to the BJP, and Derive Investments donated ₹50 crore to it and ₹3.20 crore to the Congress.
Acme Solar Energy Pvt Ltd donated ₹51 crore through five donations, Bharat Biotech International Limited donated ₹50 crore in a single donation, Rungta Sons Private Limited donated ₹50 crore through a single donation, and Dinesh Chandra R Agarwal Infracon Pvt Ltd donated ₹30 crore through a single donation to BJP in FY 2023-24, the report said.
ADR observed that Prudent Electoral Trust’s report declared contributing 31 donations worth ₹723.78 crore to BJP, however, the party in its report declared receiving 30 donations worth ₹723.675 crore.
According to the Jaybharath Electoral Trust report for FY 2023-24, it donated ₹5 crore to the BJP. However, the contribution report of BJP for the same financial year does not mention this contribution, ADR said.
ADR recommended stringent enforcement of disclosure norms, including the rejection of incomplete reports and mandatory PAN details for all donations above ₹20,000.
It also called for annual scrutiny of party donation reports by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and advocated for making donor details publicly accessible under the Right to Information Act.
It urged the Election Commission to publish information on action taken against parties failing to meet disclosure standards and pushed for the creation of an online platform to track report submissions and transparency.
Published – April 07, 2025 04:41 pm IST