Congress Faces Major Setback as Party Donations Decline Sharply

The Congress party recorded a sharp decline in donations exceeding Rs. 20,000 during the 2025-26 financial year. According to its contribution report submitted to the Election Commission, the party received Rs. 130.69 crore, compared with Rs. 517.39 crore in 2024-25, marking a fall of nearly 75 per cent. This is the steepest annual decline in such disclosed contributions in a decade. The previous major drop was recorded in 2015-16, when donations declined by approximately 86 per cent.

The sharp fall was largely attributed to a reduction in contributions from the Prudent Electoral Trust, whose donations to the Congress dropped from Rs. 216.34 crore in 2024-25 to Rs. 25 crore in 2025-26. Meanwhile, the BJP received Rs. 6,074.02 crore in donations exceeding Rs. 20,000 during 2024-25, nearly 12 times the Congress's collection. The BJP's contribution report for 2025-26 has not yet been made public by the Election Commission. These figures do not represent the parties' total income, as smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest are excluded.