It has been revealed through the expenditure reports filed by the parties with the Election Commission that the BJP spent more in the West Bengal Assembly election than the Congress spent in the elections in five states.
Assembly elections were held in March and April in four states—Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala—and in the Union Territory of Puducherry. In West Bengal, the BJP won 207 of the 293 seats and came to power for the first time. In Assam, the BJP retained power. In Puducherry, the N.R. Congress-BJP alliance won. In Kerala, the Congress came to power, and in Tamil Nadu, the TVK came to power.
In these 5 elections, the BJP spent a total of Rs. 529.38 crore. Of this, in West Bengal alone, it spent more than half — Rs. 217.16 crore on campaigning and Rs. 69.83 crore on candidates’ expenses — amounting to a total of Rs. 286.99 crore.
This is more than the expenditure incurred by the Congress in these 5 elections. The Congress spent a total of Rs. 248.55 crore across these 5 elections. In the West Bengal election alone, it spent Rs. 12.96 crore on campaigning and Rs. 29.12 crore on candidates’ expenses, totaling Rs. 42.08 crore. The Congress, which contested independently in all 293 constituencies in this state, won only two of them.
The Marxist Party, which lost power in West Bengal in 2011, contested 197 constituencies and won in only one. The party spent Rs. 8.23 crore on the state election, including candidate expenses.
The election expenditure of the Trinamool Congress, which lost power in the state, has not yet been released.
In the Kerala election, Congress spent Rs. 105.34 crore and the BJP spent Rs. 71.30 crore. The Marxist Party, which lost power in the state, spent Rs. 28.60 crore.
In the Assam Assembly election, the BJP spent Rs. 96.27 crore, Rs. 51.56 crore in Tamil Nadu, and Rs. 11.90 crore in Puducherry.
Donations: In this election period, the BJP central headquarters received donations of Rs. 1,472.8 crore, according to a report filed with the Election Commission. The Congress received donations of Rs. 207.17 crore from its central headquarters and five state units.
The BJP’s central office fund balance, which stood at Rs. 6,722.6 crore when the election was announced, rose to Rs. 7,627.2 crore by the end of the election period. During the same period, the total fund balance of the Congress party’s headquarters and five state units reportedly fell from about Rs. 169.06 crore to Rs. 103.2 crore.
