Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a donation of Rs 2,000 as a “party fund” on Sunday and encouraged everyone to make a contribution.
PM Modi encouraged people to use the NaMo app to participate in the “Donation for Nation Building” campaign on X, the platform that was once known as Twitter.
“I am happy to contribute to @BJP4India and strengthen our efforts to build a Viksit Bharat. I also urge everyone to be a part of #DonationForNationBuilding through the NaMoApp!,” PM Modi tweeted along with a receipt of his donation to the party.
On March 1st, national president JP Nadda initiated the BJP’s donation drive by giving the party a sum of Rs 1,000.
Nadda shared the information on platform X. He wrote, “I have donated to the BJP to pledge my individual support to PM Modi’s visions for making India a ‘Viksit Bharat’. Let us all come forward and join the ‘Donation for Nation Building’ mass movement using the NaMo app”.
Notably, data from the Election Commission showed that the BJP was able to raise Rs 719 crore in fundraising for the fiscal year 2022–2023, a 17 per cent increase over the previous year. The party got donations of Rs 614 crore in 2021–2022.
Concurrently, Congress received 79 crore fewer donations in the fiscal year 2022–2023 than it did in the fiscal year 2021–2022.
Under the Income Tax Act of 1961, all political donations are free from income tax under Section 80GGB for corporations and Section 80 GGC for other individuals.
Weeks after the Supreme Court struck down electoral bonds—introduced by the BJP-led Central government and permitting political parties to receive anonymous funding—the ruling party launched its contribution drive. Over half of the BJP’s total revenue came from electoral bonds.
