Congress donations fall nearly 75%, sharpest decline in a decade

Congress’s disclosed donations above ₹20,000 fell to ₹130.69 crore in 2025-26. These are contributions reported to the Election Commission under the party’s contribution filing system. The decline matters because large disclosed donations are an important, visible measure of political fundraising, even though they do not represent every source of party income.

The previous year was much stronger. Congress reported ₹517.39 crore in such contributions in 2024-25, compared with ₹281.48 crore in 2023-24. The latest fall was therefore about ₹386.70 crore, or nearly 75%. A major factor was the sharp reduction in money received from the Prudent Electoral Trust.

The decline does not mean Congress’s total income fell by exactly the same amount. Its contribution report excludes smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest. The party’s audited accounts for 2025-26 had not yet been uploaded, so its complete financial position was still unavailable.

Congress’s disclosed donations above ₹20,000 dropped by about ₹386.70 crore in one year. That equals a fall of nearly 75%, making 2025-26 the party’s steepest annual decline in this category during the decade examined. Such a fall is significant because it sharply reduced the party’s visible large-donor funding.

The comparison with BJP shows the scale of the gap. Congress collected ₹517.39 crore in disclosed donations during 2024-25, while BJP received ₹6,074.02 crore. BJP’s figure was nearly 12 times Congress’s collection. BJP also collected more than Congress in every one of the 12 financial years examined.

The comparison for 2025-26 is incomplete. Congress’s contribution report was available, but BJP’s corresponding report had not yet been made public by the Election Commission. Therefore, the latest year’s party-to-party gap cannot yet be measured from matching figures.

A political party contribution report is a document submitted to the Election Commission that lists contributions meeting the reporting threshold. In the figures discussed here, the relevant category is donations above ₹20,000. The report provides a transparent record of identified large contributions received by a political party.

Congress’s 2025-26 report listed ₹130.69 crore in such donations. It identified the Prudent Electoral Trust as the only electoral trust contributing that year. Other named large contributors included Star Cement, which gave ₹5 crore, Sajjan Bhajanka, who contributed ₹4 crore, and Prem Kumar Bhajanka, who donated ₹2 crore.

The report is not a complete income statement. It does not include the party’s smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections or interest. Electoral bond receipts were reported separately in earlier years when that scheme operated. Congress’s audited accounts are therefore needed to assess total income and its overall financial position.

Congress’s disclosed donations rose sharply in 2024-25, reaching ₹517.39 crore from ₹281.48 crore in 2023-24. That increase coincided with the year in which Lok Sabha elections were held. Election years can be important periods for party fundraising, but the article does not establish that every rupee of the increase was caused by campaigning.

The following year shows how temporary the rise may have been. Reported donations above ₹20,000 fell to ₹130.69 crore in 2025-26. The largest identified change involved the Prudent Electoral Trust, whose contribution dropped from ₹216.34 crore to ₹25 crore. That single reduction accounted for nearly half of Congress’s overall decline.

The election-year figure should also be read as a disclosed-donations total, not a complete income measure. Congress also receives smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest. Its 2024-25 coupon collections alone were ₹350.12 crore, showing that fundraising cannot be assessed from one category alone.

The Prudent Electoral Trust was the clearest contributor to Congress’s fundraising decline. Its contribution fell from ₹216.34 crore in 2024-25 to ₹25 crore in 2025-26. That is a reduction of ₹191.34 crore, or about 88%, making the trust’s change central to the party’s latest results.

Congress’s overall disclosed donations fell from ₹517.39 crore to ₹130.69 crore. The total reduction was therefore ₹386.70 crore. Prudent’s ₹191.34 crore decline amounted to roughly 49.5% of that overall fall. In simple terms, the trust’s smaller contribution accounted for about half of the year-on-year reduction.

Prudent was the only electoral trust listed in Congress’s latest contribution report. Other contributors included Star Cement, with ₹5 crore, Sajjan Bhajanka, with ₹4 crore, and Prem Kumar Bhajanka, with ₹2 crore. The report does not explain why Prudent’s contribution changed so sharply.

The fall indicates a sharp weakening in Congress’s visible large-donor fundraising. Donations above ₹20,000 dropped to ₹130.69 crore in 2025-26, compared with ₹517.39 crore in 2024-25. This may affect the resources reflected in that category, but the contribution report alone cannot establish the party’s complete financial position.

The report excludes several other income streams. These include smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest. Congress’s coupon collections alone brought in ₹350.12 crore during 2024-25. That figure shows why large disclosed donations and total income are separate measures.

Congress’s audited account for 2025-26 had not yet been uploaded. That account is needed to assess overall income, expenses and financial position. The disclosed-donation decline is therefore an important warning about one funding channel, not a full balance sheet for the party.

Political parties do not rely only on donations above ₹20,000. The article identifies smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections and interest as additional sources of income. These streams matter because a party can show a steep fall in large disclosed contributions while still receiving substantial money elsewhere.

Congress’s 2024-25 coupon collections illustrate the difference. They brought the party ₹350.12 crore, although coupon collections do not appear in the contribution report’s disclosed-donation total. The party’s audited accounts combine the various income sources and are therefore needed to understand its full finances.

Electoral bond receipts were reported separately in the earlier years when the scheme operated. The article treats them as a separate category from the disclosed donations above ₹20,000. Including bond receipts from those earlier years, Congress’s 2025-26 collection was its lowest since 2020-21. The report does not provide bonds for 2025-26.