Now Reading: BJP got 4 times Congress funds from 19 common donors in FY25
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BJP got 4 times Congress funds from 19 common donors in FY25
India's national parties declared Rs 6,648.56 crore from 11,343 contributions above Rs 20,000 in FY2024-25, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The BJP reported Rs 6,074.02 crore, up 171% from the previous year, while Congress declared Rs 517.39 crore, an increase of 84%. Together, the two parties accounted for 99.14% of all such donations.
A Times of India analysis of the signed contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission found 19 donors whose PANs appear in both BJP and Congress filings. These common donors gave at least Rs 258.73 crore in total, of which BJP received Rs 206.64 crore (79.87%) and Congress got Rs 52.09 crore (20.13%). The five largest common donors contributed Rs 208.5 crore, led by Derive Investments (Rs 58 crore to both), ITC Infotech (Rs 45 crore), ITC Ltd (Rs 43 crore), individual Suresh Amritlal Kotak (Rs 37.5 crore), and Hindustan Zinc (Rs 15 crore to BJP).
The common donors accounted for only 3.4% of BJP's total declared contributions but 10.1% of Congress's. Corporate and business sources made up 92.18% of all national party donations, with four electoral trusts contributing Rs 4,024.43 crore, or 60.53% of the total. Trust flows were excluded from the common-donor calculation as the ultimate corporate source is not directly traceable.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The 19 common donors reveal that corporate India hedged its bets but tilted heavily toward the ruling party. The Electoral Bonds scheme, struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2024, had previously allowed anonymous donations, now, with PAN-mandated contributions above Rs 20,000, such cross-party giving is visible for the first time. The next flashpoint is the Election Commission's pending action on parties that failed to declare payment dates, as ADR noted. Watch for whether the Commission demands revised filings or imposes penalties before the next general election cycle.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
