Political parties have begun disclosing their funding for the 2025-26 financial year, with the latest electoral contributions reports offering a fresh look at the donors supporting several major regional parties. The Aam Aadmi Party reported ₹12.10 crore in contributions, while the Telugu Desam Party disclosed ₹58.25 crore, the YSR Congress Party ₹24.31 crore and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi ₹16.44 crore, according to contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission of India.

The filings are made under Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and disclose contributions above the statutory reporting threshold. They should not be confused with a party’s full annual income, which is reported separately through audited accounts.

Electoral Contributions 2025-26: Aam Aadmi Party Reports ₹12.10 Crore to Election Commission of India

The latest electoral contributions filing from the Aam Aadmi Party shows a sharp decline from the previous financial year. AAP declared approximately ₹12.10 crore for 2025-26, compared with ₹38.10 crore in 2024-25 — a fall of roughly 68%. Two donors accounted for most of the amount.

Prudent Electoral Trust contributed ₹5 crore, while Trident Limited also gave ₹5 crore. Together, the two contributions represented nearly 83% of AAP’s disclosed total for the financial year. Trident was founded by businessman Rajinder Gupta, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha on an AAP ticket in October 2025 before joining the BJP in April 2026. The ₹5-crore Trident contribution was dated January 9, 2026, while Gupta was still associated with AAP. The filing itself does not establish any connection between the contribution and his later political move.

AAP Contribution Report Contains More Than 1,200 Entries

The AAP filing contains 1,202 numbered entries, ranging from major institutional donations to much smaller individual contributions. Former AAP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, who later became co-convener of the Cockroach Janta Party, contributed ₹21,100 before changing political affiliation. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal is listed as contributing three payments of ₹10,000 each, while former Delhi chief minister Atishi contributed ₹42,000 through 12 instalments. Punjab AAP president Aman Arora contributed ₹1.20 lakh through 12 payments of ₹10,000 each, according to reporting on the filing. The figures represent declared contributions covered by reporting requirements rather than a complete statement of all money available to the party.

Telugu Desam Party Reports ₹58.25 Crore

The Telugu Desam Party disclosed ₹58.25 crore for 2025-26, down from approximately ₹83.03 crore during the previous financial year. Prudent Electoral Trust was identified across reports as the party’s largest donor. There is, however, a discrepancy in current media reports over the exact amount. Hindustan Times reports that Prudent Electoral Trust contributed ₹25 crore through four payments, while Indian Express and several other reports put the figure at ₹45 crore.

Until the latest underlying Election Commission of India filing can be checked directly line by line, the ₹58.25-crore total is the safer figure to treat as confirmed. Hindustan Times also lists contributions including ₹5 crore from VPR Mining Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and ₹1 crore each from CNAPS Intellicad Pvt Ltd and Sreerayalaseema Hi-Strength Hypo Ltd. The Telugu Desam Party currently governs Andhra Pradesh and is part of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

YSR Congress Party Declares ₹24.31 Crore

The YSR Congress Party reported approximately ₹24.31 crore in contributions for 2025-26. Its largest disclosed donor was Chennai-based Goodwood Sanctuary Pvt Ltd, which contributed ₹10 crore. NA Divine Habitat Pvt Ltd contributed another ₹5 crore. The figure represents a substantial reduction from the roughly ₹140.04 crore that the party disclosed in the previous financial year.

The YSR Congress Party lost power in Andhra Pradesh to the TDP-led alliance in the 2024 Assembly election. The funding figures by themselves do not establish why contributions rose or fell. Changes can result from donor decisions, reporting patterns, electoral cycles or other financial circumstances, and the filings do not establish a direct causal link between election results and individual donations.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi Reports ₹16.44 Crore

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi reported ₹16.44 crore in contributions during 2025-26. According to the filing details reported by Hindustan Times, MSN Life Sciences Pvt Ltd and KVR Baseline Resources Pvt Ltd contributed ₹5 crore each. Varsity South Education Management Pvt Ltd contributed a further ₹5 crore through three cheques. That means three corporate donors accounted for a large portion of the BRS total.

For comparison, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi had reported approximately ₹15.09 crore in contributions for 2024-25, including ₹10 crore from Progressive Electoral Trust and ₹5 crore from Prudent Electoral Trust. The latest figures therefore show a modest increase in the amount disclosed through the contribution-report mechanism.

How the Four Parties Compare

The latest reported figures are:

These amounts cover the contribution reports currently available for the parties discussed here. They should not be interpreted as a complete ranking of all political-party funding in India because reports for several national parties had not yet been made public in the sources reviewed. Indian Express reported that the contribution reports of the BJP, Congress and some other national parties were still awaited at the time of publication.

BJD Reports No Contributions Above the Threshold

Another notable filing came from the Biju Janata Dal. The party reported “NIL” contributions covered by Form 24A for 2025-26, compared with ₹60 crore reported in the previous year.

That does not necessarily mean the party had no income during the financial year. It means its contribution report did not list contributions falling within the disclosure category covered by the filing. This distinction is important because contribution reports and audited annual accounts serve different purposes.

What Do Political Parties Have to Disclose?

Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act requires recognised political parties to submit contribution reports containing specified donor information. The reports are filed with the Election Commission of India and are intended to provide public information about identifiable political funding above the applicable threshold.

A contribution report can include donations from:

• Individuals
• Companies
• Electoral trusts
• Institutions and other eligible entities

Electoral trusts have become particularly prominent in party funding following the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision striking down the electoral-bond scheme. Unlike electoral bonds, electoral trusts operate within a disclosure framework where information about their donors and distributions can be reported through statutory filings.

Why Electoral Trusts Matter in the Latest Filings

Prudent Electoral Trust appears repeatedly across the 2025-26 disclosures. It donated ₹5 crore to AAP and was also identified as the biggest electoral-trust contributor to TDP, although published reports currently disagree over whether that amount was ₹25 crore or ₹45 crore. Its presence across parties illustrates an important feature of the electoral-trust system: a trust can distribute funding to more than one political party rather than being tied permanently to a single organisation.

Large corporate donations are also visible. Goodwood Sanctuary and NA Divine Habitat feature prominently in the YSR Congress Party filing, while life-sciences, resources and education companies appear among the major BRS contributors.

Contribution Reports Are Not the Same as Total Party Income

One of the easiest mistakes when reading these disclosures is to describe them as each party’s “income”. That would be inaccurate. The reported electoral contributions cover donations disclosed through Form 24A and associated statutory requirements. A political party may also have other forms of receipts reflected in its audited annual financial statements.

Hindustan Times explicitly notes that the latest figures do not represent the parties’ complete receipts or overall income for the year. The reports are therefore best read as a transparency tool showing particular declared funding flows rather than a complete balance sheet.

What the Latest Filings Show

The 2025-26 disclosures provide a clearer picture of how regional political parties are being funded after the end of the electoral-bond system. The Aam Aadmi Party reported a substantially smaller contribution total than the previous year, with ₹10 crore of its ₹12.10 crore coming from just two major donors. TDP disclosed the largest total among the four parties examined here, while YSRCP and BRS also reported significant corporate and trust-linked contributions.

But the numbers should be interpreted carefully. A decline in disclosed donations does not, on its own, prove falling political support. A large corporate donation does not, by itself, establish influence over a political party. And a contribution report does not provide a party’s complete annual financial picture. What the filings do provide is a traceable public record of declared political funding - allowing voters, researchers and institutions to examine who is contributing significant sums to political parties and how those patterns change from one financial year to the next.