BJP’s Purse Swells Over 50% To Rs 6,088 Crore A Year After Electoral Bonds Scrapped | Politics News

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union Home Minister Amit Shah (PTI photo)

The scrapping of the Electoral Bond Scheme has done little to dent the BJP’s fundraising. Instead, the ruling party recorded its highest-ever donations in 2024-25, raising Rs 6,088 crore in the first full year after the scheme was struck down by the Supreme Court, according to an Indian Express Report.

According to its latest Contribution Report, BJP received Rs 6,088 crore in donations this year, an increase of more than 50 per cent from the Rs 3,967 crore it received in 2023-24. The report was submitted to the Election Commission on December 8 and published last week.

BJP far ahead of Opposition parties

The scale of BJP’s fundraising stands out sharply when compared with other political parties. In 2024-25, the party’s total donations were nearly 12 times higher than those of the Congress, which reported contributions of Rs 522.13 crore.

Taken together, the donations received by a dozen Opposition parties, including the Congress, came to Rs 1,343 crore. This means the BJP alone raised about 4.5 times more funds than all these parties combined.

Role of electoral trusts

A close reading of the BJP’s 162-page Contribution Report shows that electoral trusts played a major role in the party’s fundraising. During 2024-25, electoral trusts donated Rs 3,744 crore to the BJP. This accounted for 61 per cent of the party’s total contributions for the year.

The remaining Rs 2,344 crore came from other sources, including individual donors and corporate contributions. All individual donations above Rs 20,000 are required to be disclosed in reports filed with the Election Commission.

Who are the top donors?

Several large companies were among the BJP’s top donors during the year. Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd contributed Rs 100 crore, while Rungta Sons Private Limited donated Rs 95 crore. Vedanta Limited followed with Rs 67 crore.

Other major contributors included Macrotech Developers Limited (Rs 65 crore), Derive Investments (Rs 53 crore), Modern Road Makers Pvt Ltd (Rs 52 crore) and Lotus Hometextiles Limited (Rs 51 crore). Real estate firm Safal Goyal Realty LLP donated Rs 45 crore, while ITC Limited gave Rs 39 crore.

Additional donors included Global Ivy Ventures LLP, ITC Infotech India Ltd, Hero Enterprises Partner Ventures, Mankind Pharma Limited and Hindustan Zinc Limited. Several individuals also featured among the top contributors.

Donations over the years

The BJP’s donation figures have varied widely over the past six years. In 2019-20, the party received Rs 3,427 crore, with electoral bonds making up 74 per cent of the total. Donations fell sharply in 2020-21 to Rs 578 crore, when bonds accounted for just 4 per cent.

In 2021-22, donations rose to Rs 1,775 crore, with bonds contributing 58 per cent. This increased further to Rs 2,120 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 3,967 crore in 2023-24, when bonds still formed a significant share.

In 2024-25, donations reached a record Rs 6,088 crore, with no contribution from electoral bonds following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the scheme.

Electoral bonds and question of transparency

The Electoral Bond Scheme was introduced in 2017-18 as a way to replace cash donations with banking channels. Over the years, political parties received more than Rs 16,000 crore through bonds, with the BJP receiving the largest share.

In February 2024, the Supreme Court declared the scheme unconstitutional and ordered the State Bank of India and the Election Commission to publish details of donors and beneficiaries. The court held that anonymous political funding violated citizens’ right to information.

Despite the end of electoral bonds, the BJP’s latest figures show that its fundraising capacity remains strong.