PM Modi turns 68, to celebrate birthday in Varanasi

Agencies

September 17, 2018

New Delhi/Mysuru, Sept 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate his 68th birthday on Monday in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he will interact with school children.

Modi will reach Narur village this afternoon where he will interact with children of a primary school, which is aided by a non-profit organisation, Room to Read.

Later, at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) campus, the prime minister will interact with students of the Kashi Vidyapeeth and the children assisted by them, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and BJP chief Amit Shah were among the first to greet him.

"Birthday greetings to our Prime Minister @narendramodi. Wish him a long life and many years of dedicated service to the people of the country," Kovind tweeted.

Naidu, who is in Malta, called up Modi to wish him on his birthday, the Vice President Secretariat said.

"Warm Birthday wishes to Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. India is making rapid strides under his visionary leadership and taking its rightful place in the comity of nations. May he be blessed with long and healthy life," said Naidu's Twitter handle.

Shah hailed Modi's leadership, saying India under him has become synonymous with development and that he has infused energy into every section of society like never before.

India has a government under Modi, which is committed to the development of the poor, farmers and every section of society, the BJP chief said in a tweet.

He described Modi as a leader who is loved by all and has provided a decisive and visionary leadership to country, as he prayed for a long and healthy life for the prime minister.

Celebrations in Mysuru

Mysuru BJP workers celebrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 68th birthday in some parts of the city.

BJP workers and leaders of Ward 35, organised a park cleaning drive at Triveni circle and distributed sweets to civic workers.

BJP leader Sandesh Swamy, Corporator Satwik, leaders C B Basavaraj and others took part.

Several programmes are scheduled in other wards in Krishnaraja Assembly segment.

To mark the PM's birthday, MP Pratap Simha will distribute the book 'Exam Warriors'--authored by Narendra Modi, to SSLC students of Vijaya Vittal School.

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BJP bags ₹6,654 crore in donations in 2024-25; Congress, regional parties see sharp fall

News Network

December 22,2025

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received ₹6,654.93 crore in donations during the 2024-25 financial year — a Lok Sabha election year — registering a 68 per cent increase over the previous fiscal.

In its annual contribution report submitted to the Election Commission on December 8, two days ahead of the deadline, the BJP disclosed all donations exceeding ₹20,000. The report, now available on the Commission’s website, covers contributions received between April 1, 2024 and March 30, 2025 — a period marked by the general election and Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi.

The BJP, the world’s largest political party by membership, had reported donations of ₹3,967 crore in 2023-24. The latest figures represent the party’s highest donation receipts in the last five years.

Electoral trusts accounted for around 40 per cent of the BJP’s total donations. The Prudent Electoral Trust contributed ₹2,180 crore, followed by the Progressive Electoral Trust with ₹757 crore and the New Democratic Electoral Trust with ₹150 crore. Contributions from other electoral trusts together amounted to ₹3,112.5 crore. The remaining funds came from corporate donors and individuals. Electoral trusts are entities set up by companies to channel donations to political parties.

Among major corporate contributors, Serum Institute of India donated ₹100 crore, Rungta Sons Private Limited ₹95 crore, Vedanta ₹67 crore, and Macrotech Developers (formerly Lodha Developers) ₹65 crore. Three Bajaj Group companies together contributed ₹65 crore, while Derive Investments donated ₹50 crore.

Other notable donors included Malabar Gold (₹10 crore), Kalyan Jewellers (₹15.1 crore), Hero Group (₹23.65 crore), Dilip Buildcon Group (₹29 crore), ITC Limited (₹35 crore), Wave Industries (₹5.25 crore) and Zerodha’s investment firm, promoted by Nikhil Kamath, which contributed ₹1.5 crore.

Several BJP leaders also made individual donations. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma donated ₹3 lakh, Assam minister Pijush Hazarika ₹2.75 lakh, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ₹1 lakh, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ₹5 lakh, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava ₹1 lakh, and Akash Vijayvargiya, son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, also donated ₹1 lakh, among others.

In contrast, most opposition parties reported a sharp decline in donations. The Congress received ₹522.13 crore in 2024-25, a fall of about 43 per cent from ₹1,129 crore in the previous year. The Trinamool Congress saw donations drop to ₹184.08 crore from ₹618.8 crore, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi reported just ₹15.09 crore, down from ₹580 crore.

The Aam Aadmi Party, however, recorded an increase, collecting ₹39.2 crore compared to ₹22.1 crore last year. The Telugu Desam Party received ₹85.2 crore in donations, down from ₹274 crore, but also earned ₹102 crore through fees and subscriptions. The Biju Janata Dal reported ₹60 crore in donations, compared to ₹246 crore in the previous fiscal.

The 2024-25 financial year is also the first without electoral bonds, after the Supreme Court struck down the scheme as unconstitutional in February 2024. Since its introduction in 2018, the electoral bond scheme had enabled political parties to receive over ₹16,000 crore in anonymous donations, with the BJP receiving the largest share.

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