The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received ₹12.10 crore in donations in 2025-26, a 68 per cent decline from the previous year, according to official filings submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
About 83 per cent of the amount came from Prudent Electoral Trust and Trident Limited, a company founded by former party Member of Parliament Rajinder Gupta, according to the party’s contribution to the Election Commission, first reported by news agency PTI.
Ashutosh Ranka, now a co-convener of the (CJP) and a former AAP spokesperson, donated ₹21,100 to the party in 2025-26 before taking up his role in the CJP.
The CJP, which led to massive protests over NEET paper leaks at Jantar Mantar recently has often been linked to AAP. Ranka’s contribution apart, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has also been associated with the social media team of AAP a few years ago.
Prudent and Trident each gave ₹5 crore to the AAP. The remaining contributions totalled about ₹2.10 crore, the report said.
Prudent Electoral Trust is the richest electoral trust in the country. About 90 per cent of the corporate donations to political parties come through this Trust, which was earlier known as .
Trident Limited (often mentioned in the news alongside the Prudent Electoral Trust) is a prominent corporate entity in India that frequently appears in political funding disclosures. The Punjab-based textile and manufacturing conglomerate Trident Limited was founded by Rajinder Gupta.
Gupta was elected to the Rajya Sabha on an AAP ticket in October 2025.
Trident’s ₹5-crore cheque was dated 9 January 2026, when Gupta was with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. He joined the BJP in April this year.
The AAP had disclosed ₹38.10 crore in contributions in 2024-25, more than three times the ₹11.06 crore it reported in 2023-24. Prudent was its largest donor in 2024-25, giving ₹16.40 crore.
The latest filing covers the first full financial year since the AAP lost power in Delhi in February 2025. The party continues to govern Punjab, where Trident is based.
The report available on poll panel’s website has 1,202 numbered entries.
Party chief Arvind Kejriwal is listed against three contributions of ₹10,000 each. made 12 payments of ₹3,500 each, totalling ₹42,000, while Punjab AAP president Aman Arora is listed against 12 payments of ₹10,000 each, totalling ₹1.20 lakh.
Political parties must identify donors whose contributions exceed ₹20,000 during a financial year and submit the details to the Election Commission of India. These contribution reports do not show a party’s full annual income, which is reported separately in its audited accounts.
(With PTI inputs)
