The Bharatiya Janata Party got nearly 75% of all large donations made by companies and individuals to national political parties in the financial year 2020-2021, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.

Political parties are required to declare donations of over Rs 20,000. On Tuesday, the Election Commission released the contribution reports of national political parties for the financial year 2020-2021.

The eight national political parties in the country received a total of Rs 633.66 crore in donations during the year, according to the reports. The BJP alone garnered over Rs 477 crore, while the Congress received donations of Rs 74 crore.

Large donations to the BJP declined as compared to 2019-2020 when the Hindutva party had received Rs 785.77 crore.

In 2020-2021, while the BJP received donations of over Rs 20,000 from 2,206 donors, the Congress received such amounts from 1,059 donors.

The Trinamool Congress received Rs 42.51 crore from 26 business houses and individuals, the Nationalist Congress got donations of 26.26 crore from 79 donors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) got Rs 12.85 crore from 226 donors, according to its contribution report.

Jagdeep Chhokar, the founder of non-governmental organisation Association of Democratic Reforms said that the party in power would naturally get a greater number of donations, the Hindustan Times reported.

“However, this is the tip of the iceberg and is nowhere near the total finances of a political party,” he said. “But at the same time, it is a rough indicator.”

In August, a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms showed that the BJP had received 76% of electoral bonds sold in 2019-2020, while the Congress had received 9%. Electoral bonds are monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups can buy from a bank and give to a political party, which is then free to redeem them for money.