The Congress party recorded a steep fall in donations above ₹20,000 during the 2025-26 financial year, with contributions declining by nearly 75 percent to ₹130.69 crore from ₹517.39 crore received in the previous year. According to the party’s contribution report submitted to the Election Commission, this marks the sharpest annual decline in disclosed donations in the last ten years. The fall comes after two consecutive years of higher collections, when donations had increased significantly during the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A major reason for the decline was the sharp reduction in funding from the Prudent Electoral Trust, which cut its contribution from ₹216.34 crore in 2024-25 to just ₹25 crore in 2025-26. Besides Prudent, the party received ₹5 crore from Star Cement, ₹4 crore from Sajjan Bhajanka and ₹2 crore from Prem Kumar Bhajanka. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reported donations of over ₹6,074 crore in 2024-25, nearly twelve times higher than Congress. The BJP’s contribution report for 2025-26 has not yet been made public by the Election Commission.

Despite the sharp fall, the Congress’ current donation figures are not the lowest in recent years. The party had collected ₹74.52 crore in 2020-21, ₹95.46 crore in 2021-22 and ₹79.92 crore in 2022-23 through donations above ₹20,000. These figures do not include electoral bond receipts, which were reported separately while the scheme was in force. The party’s complete financial position for 2025-26 will become clearer after its audited accounts are released, as they also include income from membership fees, coupon collections, small donations and other sources.