BJP received the highest donation of Rs 3,112 Cr from ‘Electoral Trusts’

New Delhi – After the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bond scheme, the ruling party at the Centre, BJP, emerged as the biggest beneficiary with Rs 3,112 crore having been received as corporate donations routed through electoral trusts. The amount the saffron party has received is around 82 per cent of the total funds donated by trusts in 2024-25. The total donations to political parties are Rs 3,811 crore. According to the contribution reports submitted by the different trusts to the Election Commission of India (ECI), just under 8 per cent of their donations or Rs 299 crore went to the Congress while all other parties put together received the balance 10 per cent or Rs 400 crore.

BJP received Rs 2,937.69 crore from the ‘Prudent’ and ‘Progressive’ trusts

Among the total donations of Rs 3,811 crore to various political parties, Prudent Electoral Trust reportedly emerged as the largest contributor, distributing Rs 2,668 crore among 15 political parties. Out of this, BJP reportedly received Rs 2,180.7 crore, Congress got Rs 216.3 crore while Trinamool Congress received Rs 92 crore. Prudent Electoral Trust reportedly donated to other parties like AAP, TDP etc as well. In the previous financial year i.e. 2023-24, the BJP had received Rs 3,967.14 crore in voluntary contributions, of which 43 per cent or Rs 1,685.62 crore were from electoral bonds. The Supreme Court had found the electoral bond scheme unconstitutional and scrapped it in 2024.

What is an Electoral Trust ?

An Electoral Trust is a registered organisation that collects donations from corporate entities and individuals and passes them on to political parties. The trust is required to submit complete details of donations to the Election Commission. This ensures that donations are recorded and that it is known which party received how much funding.

The Electoral Bond scheme, which began in 2018, was declared invalid by the Supreme Court in February 2024 due to a lack of transparency and was subsequently discontinued. After this, there was a major shift in political funding, and Electoral Trusts became the primary channel for donations to political parties.