BJP got Rs 2,244 crore contributions in ’23-24, Congress Rs 289 crore | India News


NEW DELHI: BJP received around Rs 2,244 crore in contributions of Rs 20,000 or more from individuals, trusts and corporate houses in 2023-24, which is more than three times its donation flow in 2022-23. The Congress, on the other hand, received Rs 288.9 crore through the same route in 2023-24, up from Rs 79.9 crore the previous year.
According to the contribution reports of the two parties for 2023-24, now available on the EC website, the BJP received donations worth Rs 723.6 million from the Prudent Electoral Trust, which also contributed Rs 156.4 million of rupees to Congress. In a nutshell, around a third of the BJP’s donations and more than half of the Congress’s donations in 2023-24 came from the Prudent Electoral Trust. Prudent’s top donors in 2022-23 were Megha Engg & Infra Ltd, Serum Institute, Arcelor Mittal group and Bharti Airtel.
Electoral bond receipts not part of BJP and Cong donation figures
The total donations declared by the BJP and Congress do not include income through electoral bonds as rules require political parties to declare this detail only in their annual audit reports and not in their contribution reports. The electoral bond system was annulled by the Supreme Court in February 2024, leaving contributions, whether received directly or through the electoral trust route, as the main source of financing for political parties.

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Some regional parties, however, have voluntarily declared their income through electoral bonds in their contribution reports for 2023-24. These include BRS, which received Rs 495.5 million in bonuses; DMK, which received Rs 60 crore and YSR Congress which got Rs 121.5 crore through the now defunct instrument. JMM declared income of Rs 11.5 crore through bonds, though his other contributions were a little over Rs 64 lakh.
The BJP recorded a 212% increase in contributions in 2023-24, compared to the previous year, although this is not unusual as it was the year before the general elections. In 2018-19, the year before the 2019 general elections, the BJP had declared contributions worth Rs 742 crore and the Congress worth Rs 146.8 crore.
BJP received Rs 850 crore through the electoral trust route, of which over Rs 723 crore came from Prudent, Rs 127 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and Rs 17.2 crore from Einzigarting Electoral Trust. The Congress received over Rs 156 crore through the trust route, though Prudent was the only donor here.
Prudent also contributed Rs 85 crore and Rs 62.5 crore to the BRS Congress and YSR respectively in 2023-24, both of which were voted out the same year. The TDP, now the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, received Rs 33 million from Prudent. DMK received Rs 8 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and Jayabharath Trust.
Interestingly, BJP has declared donations worth Rs 3 crore from Future Gaming and Hotel Services in 2023-24, the company owned by Santiago Martin, also known as India’s ‘Lottery King’. Future Gaming was the largest donor through the electoral bond route, with the Trinamool Congress being the largest beneficiary. Martin is under scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department for alleged money laundering.
Among other national parties, the AAP declared contributions worth Rs 11.1 crore in 2023-24, up from Rs 37.1 crore the previous year. CPM contributions increased to Rs 7.6 crore in 2023-24 from Rs 6.1 crore in 2022-23. The NPP, which is in power in Meghalaya, declared contributions of Rs 14.8 lakh. The BSP once again stated that no donations exceeding Rs 20,000 had been made. BJD also declared zero donations for the fiscal year 2023-24.
TDP declared contributions of over Rs 100 crore in 2023-24, BJD zero and Samajwadi Party Rs 46.7 lakh crore compared to Rs 33 crore the previous year.





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