Voluntary contributions to BJP up 54% to Rs 6,125cr in 2024-25

NEW DELHI: Voluntary contributions received by BJP in 2024-25 rose almost 54% to Rs 6,125 crore from Rs 3,967 crore in 2023-24, with the Rs 2,158 crore increase more than compensating for the party's perceived loss of income on account of the scrapping of electoral bonds by Supreme Court in Feb 2024.

The party in office at Centre had earned almost Rs 1,686 crore via the bonds route in 2023-24. The elimination of bonds as an anonymous source of political funding by corporates corresponded with a nearly three-fold rise in donations from companies and organisations declared by BJP in its annual audit report for 2024-25. As per the report filed with EC, corporate donations to BJP rose to Rs 5,422 crore from Rs 1,885 crore in 2023-24.

Congress, in its 2024-25 annual audit report filed earlier, had declared a total income of Rs 918 crore and expenditure of Rs 1,112 crore.

The main opposition party's receipts via grants, donations and contributions saw a nearly 54% dip to Rs 522 crore from Rs 1,130 crore in 2023-24. This may be on account of the elimination of bonds, considering Congress had raised almost Rs 828 crore through this route in 2023-24.

Individual donors contributed Rs 641 crore to BJP in the last fiscal, up from Rs 240 crore in 2023-24.

Of the total Rs 6,769 crore income declared by BJP in its annual audit report for 2024-25 - up from Rs 4,340 crore declared in 2023-24 - Rs 6,125 crore came from voluntary contributions, Rs 634 crore as interest from banks, Rs 5.7 crore as fees and subscriptions and Rs 4.5 crore as 'other income'.

On the expenditure side, BJP spent a total of Rs 3,775 crore in 2024-25, of which Rs 3,335 crore was for election propaganda. This is almost double the Rs 1,754 crore it had spent under the same head in 2023-24. Congress election expenditure in 2024-25 stood at Rs 896 crore, up from Rs 620 crore in 2023-24.

Electronic media publicity saw the highest spend by BJP in the last financial year, touching almost Rs 1,125 crore compared to Rs 435 crore in 2023-24.

Hoardings cost the BJP nearly Rs 107 crore; air travel, Rs 583 crore; and financial assistance to candidates, Rs 313 crore. Another Rs 91 crore was spent on morchas and rallies, while meeting expenses amounted to nearly Rs 52 crore.

Having started 2024-25 with a general fund opening balance of Rs 9,170 crore, BJP ended the year with a surplus of Rs 2,995 crore, which made for a closing balance of Rs 12,164 crore.
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