Congress Party Faces Dramatic Drop in Donations: What Does This Mean for Their Future?

The Congress party has reported a dramatic 75% decline in donations exceeding Rs 20,000 for the fiscal year 2025-26, totaling Rs 130.69 crore. This significant drop marks the steepest fall in contributions in a decade, following two years of increasing funds. The BJP continues to dominate fundraising efforts, collecting nearly twelve times more than Congress. The decline is largely attributed to a substantial decrease in funding from the Prudent Electoral Trust. Despite this downturn, Congress's total collection remains higher than in several previous years. The party's overall financial health will be clearer once the audited accounts for 2025-26 are released.

By Narendra Chaudhary Nov 8, 2026, 15:33 IST

Significant Decline in Contributions

In a recent analysis of the Congress party's financial disclosures to the Election Commission, it has been revealed that donations exceeding Rs 20,000 have plummeted by nearly 75% to Rs 130.69 crore for the fiscal year 2025-26. This marks the most significant annual decrease in contributions over the past decade.

The previous year, 2024-25, saw the party receiving Rs 517.39 crore in similar contributions, as detailed in their contribution report submitted to the commission.

Looking back over the last 12 financial years, the only comparable drop occurred in 2015-16, when the party's reported donations fell by approximately 86% from Rs 141.46 crore the year before.

This latest downturn follows two years of increasing donations, with the Congress party reporting Rs 281.48 crore in 2023-24, which surged to Rs 517.39 crore during the Lok Sabha election year of 2024-25.

In contrast, the BJP amassed Rs 6,074.02 crore in donations above Rs 20,000 for 2024-25, nearly twelve times the amount collected by Congress. The BJP's figures for 2025-26 have yet to be disclosed by the Election Commission.

Throughout the 12 financial years reviewed, the BJP consistently outperformed Congress in terms of fundraising.

A significant factor contributing to Congress's recent decline is the drop in funding from the Prudent Electoral Trust, which fell from Rs 216.34 crore in 2024-25 to just Rs 25 crore in 2025-26, representing an 88% decrease.

Prudent was the sole electoral trust mentioned in the party's latest contribution report.

Other notable contributors included Star Cement, which donated Rs 5 crore, Sajjan Bhajanka with Rs 4 crore, and Prem Kumar Bhajanka, who contributed Rs 2 crore.

Despite the sharp decline in 2025-26, the Congress party's total fund collection was not the lowest recorded in the examined period, as they had lower figures in previous years, including Rs 74.52 crore in 2020-21, Rs 95.46 crore in 2021-22, and Rs 79.92 crore in 2022-23.

These figures do not account for electoral bonds, which were reported separately during the scheme's operation. When including bond receipts from earlier years, the Congress's latest collection in 2025-26 is the lowest since 2020-21.

The contribution report does not provide a complete picture of the party's total income, which also encompasses smaller donations, membership fees, coupon collections, and interest.

To fully understand the Congress party's financial standing, the audited accounts for 2025-26, which have not yet been published, will be essential. In 2024-25, coupon collections alone contributed Rs 350.12 crore to the party's finances.