NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party’s latest contribution report has put its funding pattern under the spotlight, with the party reporting a 68 per cent fall in disclosed contributions in 2025-26, while two major donors together accounted for nearly 83 per cent of the total.
According to AAP’s contribution report filed with the Election Commission of India, the party received Rs 12.10 crore in contributions in 2025-26, sharply down from Rs 38.10 crore in 2024-25. The latest filing covers the first full financial year after AAP lost power in Delhi in February 2025. The party continues to govern Punjab.
The donor list also throws up a politically notable entry: Ashutosh Ranka, a former AAP spokesperson who is now co-convener of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), contributed Rs 21,100 to AAP during 2025-26, before taking up his role in the CJP.
Rs 10 crore from just two major contributors
Of AAP’s Rs 12.10 crore in disclosed contributions, Rs 5 crore each came from Prudent Electoral Trust and Trident Limited. Together, the two contributions amount to Rs 10 crore, or roughly 83 per cent of the party’s total disclosed contributions. The remaining contributions were around Rs 2.10 crore.
The Trident contribution carries an additional political dimension. Trident was founded by Rajinder Gupta, who had been elected to the Rajya Sabha on an AAP ticket in October 2025. The company’s Rs 5-crore cheque was dated January 9, 2026, when Gupta was associated with AAP. He subsequently joined the BJP in April 2026.
The Prudent Electoral Trust and Trident payments therefore dominate AAP’s latest disclosed funding figures, accounting for more than four-fifths of the contributions reported to the Election Commission.
AAP’s funding falls sharply after Delhi defeat
The decline is striking when compared with the previous two financial years.
AAP reported Rs 11.06 crore in contributions in 2023-24. The figure jumped to Rs 38.10 crore in 2024-25, before dropping to Rs 12.10 crore in 2025-26. Prudent Electoral Trust had contributed Rs 16.40 crore to AAP in 2024-25, making it the party’s largest donor that year.
The latest filing thus records a sharp contraction in disclosed contributions during the first complete financial year following AAP’s exit from government in Delhi.
It is important to note that these contribution reports do not represent a political party’s entire annual income. Parties are required to disclose details of contributions above Rs 20,000 in these reports, while their full annual financial position is reflected separately in audited accounts.
Ranka’s Rs 21,100 contribution draws attention
Among the 1,202 numbered entries in AAP’s latest donor list is Ashutosh Ranka, who earlier served as an AAP spokesperson and is now associated with the CJP as its co-convener.
The Election Commission filing shows that Ranka contributed Rs 21,100 to AAP during 2025-26, before assuming his CJP role.
The amount is notable when placed alongside the contribution made by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal made three separate contributions of Rs 10,000 each, taking his total contribution to Rs 30,000 during the financial year.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi contributed Rs 42,000 through 12 payments of Rs 3,500 each, while Punjab AAP president Aman Arora contributed Rs 1.20 lakh through 12 payments of Rs 10,000 each.
The political irony in the donor list
Ranka’s appearance in the AAP donor list is likely to attract attention because of his subsequent political association with the CJP. However, the contribution itself was made before he took up his CJP role, according to the filing.
That timeline is central to understanding the disclosure: the Election Commission record establishes the contribution and its timing, but by itself does not establish what motivated the payment or what political position Ranka held at the time beyond his documented association with AAP.
What the numbers reveal
AAP’s latest contribution report presents a stark funding picture: Rs 12.10 crore in disclosed contributions, down nearly 68 per cent from the previous year, with Rs 10 crore coming from just two donors.
The filing also puts individual political contributions into perspective. Kejriwal’s Rs 30,000, Atishi’s Rs 42,000, Aman Arora’s Rs 1.20 lakh and Ranka’s Rs 21,100 are dwarfed by the Rs 5-crore contributions from Prudent Electoral Trust and Trident.
The Trident donation is particularly noteworthy because it came from a company founded by former AAP Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta, who later moved to the BJP. Meanwhile, the inclusion of Ranka now a CJP co-convener adds another unusual political link to the donor list.
For AAP, the latest figures mark a sharp reversal from the Rs 38.10 crore it disclosed in 2024-25. The numbers also show how heavily its declared contributions for 2025-26 were concentrated among a very small number of major donors.
Other parties’ contribution figures
The Election Commission data also showed TDP reporting Rs 58.25 crore in contributions for 2025-26 and the YSR Congress Party reporting Rs 24.31 crore. The Biju Janata Dal reported no contributions above Rs 20,000 in its latest filing. At the time of the reports, contribution filings of the BJP, Congress and some other national parties had not yet been made public, limiting a complete comparison across national parties.
