Hyderabad: Five national and 27 regional political parties collected a whopping Rs 7445.566 cr in funds during 2024 Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in four states held simultaneously with the general election, but spent only 45 percent of the collected funds, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms has said.
The focus of the report is the expenditure of National and Regional parties during Lok Sabha 2024 elections (and the Assembly elections to four states – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim held simultaneously) and analyses the funds received and expenditure incurred by Parties, during the election period of 82 days (16 March 2024 to 6 June 2024).
According to the ADR report, total funds collected by 5 National and 27 Regional political parties during General Elections 2024 amounted to a total of Rs 7445.566 cr. Of the total funds collected, National parties collected Rs 6930.246 cr (93.08%) while Regional parties received Rs 515.32 cr (6.92%), it said.
The 32 National and Regional parties together spent Rs 3352.81 cr during the Lok Sabha and assembly elections 2024, of which an expenditure of Rs 2204.318 cr (65.75%) was incurred by the 5 National Parties, added the report. JKPDP and KC(M) are the only two parties that incurred no expenditure despite contesting elections.
As per the ADR report, BJP received the maximum funds at a whopping Rs 6268.006 crore followed by Congress, which received 592.484 crore while CPI(M) stood third with 62.7478 crore funds.
Details of political parties' funds collected during elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim 2024:
| Political Party | Lok Sabha (₹ cr) | Arunachal (₹ cr) | Andhra Pradesh (₹ cr) | Odisha (₹ cr) | Sikkim (₹ cr) | State Assemblies Total (₹ cr) | Grand Total (₹ cr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BJP | 6268.006 | * | * | * | * | — | 6268.006 |
| INC | 592.484 | * | * | * | * | — | 592.484 |
| CPI(M) | 62.7478 | – | * | * | – | — | 62.7478 |
| AAP | 6.8958 | – | – | 0.1124 | – | 0.1124 | 7.0082 |
| BSP | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | — | 0 |
| Subtotal (major parties) | 6930.1336 | 0 | 0 | 0.1124 | 0 | 0.1124 | 6930.246 |
| YSR-Congress | 171.753 | – | * | – | – | — | 171.753 |
| TDP | 107.93 | – | * | – | – | — | 107.93 |
| BJD | 60.00 | – | – | * | – | — | 60.00 |
| BRS | 47.569 | – | – | – | – | — | 47.569 |
| AITC | 33.12 | – | – | – | – | — | 33.12 |
| DMK | 26.501 | – | – | – | – | — | 26.501 |
| JD(U) | 19.526 | – | – | – | – | — | 19.526 |
| LJP (Ram Vilas) | 11.065 | ** | – | – | – | — | 11.065 |
| AIADMK | 11.03 | – | – | – | – | — | 11.03 |
| SP | 10.4724 | – | * | * | – | — | 10.4724 |
| SAD | 3.859 | – | – | – | – | — | 3.859 |
| SDF | 3.542 | – | – | – | ** | — | 3.542 |
| CPI(ML)(L) | 1.876 | – | * | * | – | — | 1.876 |
| RJD | 1.761 | – | ** | – | – | — | 1.761 |
| KC(M) | 1.1787 | – | – | ** | – | — | 1.1787 |
| AIUDF | 0.972 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.972 |
| AGP | 0.8799 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.8799 |
| AIMIM | 0.622 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.622 |
| JD(S) | 0.60 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.60 |
| MNF | 0.35 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.35 |
| AIFB | 0.1487 | – | * | * | – | — | 0.1487 |
| Revolutionary Goans Party | 0.1415 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.1415 |
| Rashtriya Loktantrik Party | 0.135 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.135 |
| NPF | 0.13 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.13 |
| SKM | 0.1172 | – | – | – | * | — | 0.1172 |
| AJSU Party | 0.0347 | – | – | ** | – | — | 0.0347 |
| JKPDP | 0.0045 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.0045 |
| Total (minor parties) | 515.32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 515.32 |
| Grand Total (all parties) | 7445.4536 | 0 | 0 | 0.1124 | 0 | 0.1124 | 7445.566 |
Details of election expenditure of political parties for elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim:
| Political Party | Lok Sabha (₹ cr) | Arunachal (₹ cr) | Andhra Pradesh (₹ cr) | Odisha (₹ cr) | Sikkim (₹ cr) | State Assemblies Total (₹ cr) | Grand Total (₹ cr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BJP | 1492.395 | 1.515 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.515 | 1493.91 |
| INC | 620.14 | * | * | * | * | — | 620.14 |
| BSP | 66.19 | – | 0 | 0 | – | — | 66.19 |
| CPI(M) | 16.53 | – | * | 0.0039 | – | 0.0039 | 16.534 |
| AAP | 7.425 | – | – | 0.119 | – | 0.119 | 7.544 |
| Subtotal (major) | 2202.68 | 1.515 | 0 | 0.123 | 0 | 1.638 | 2204.318 |
| YSR‑Congress | 325.674 | – | * | – | – | — | 325.674 |
| BJD | 278.039 | – | – | * | – | — | 278.039 |
| AITC | 147.685 | – | – | – | – | — | 147.685 |
| DMK | 145.679 | – | – | – | – | — | 145.679 |
| BRS | 103.262 | – | – | – | – | — | 103.262 |
| SP | 48.3975 | – | * | * | – | — | 48.3975 |
| TDP | 34.2593 | – | * | – | – | — | 34.2593 |
| AIADMK | 23.34 | – | – | – | – | — | 23.34 |
| JD(U) | 22.838 | – | – | – | – | — | 22.838 |
| RJD | 8.412 | – | ** | – | – | — | 8.412 |
| SAD | 3.234 | – | – | – | – | — | 3.234 |
| SDF | 3.166 | – | – | – | ** | — | 3.166 |
| AIUDF | 1.388 | – | – | – | – | — | 1.388 |
| JD(S) | 1.074 | – | – | – | – | — | 1.074 |
| SKM | 0 | – | – | – | 0.6066 | 0.6066 | 0.6066 |
| CPI(ML)(L) | 0.4177 | – | * | * | – | — | 0.4177 |
| MNF | 0.3525 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.3525 |
| AIFB | 0.2244 | – | * | * | – | — | 0.2244 |
| NPF | 0.1886 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.1886 |
| Rashtriya Loktantrik Party | 0.0608 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.0608 |
| Revolutionary Goans Party | 0.059 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.059 |
| AJSU Party | 0.0478 | – | – | ** | – | — | 0.0478 |
| AGP | 0.0396 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.0396 |
| AIMIM | 0.0376 | – | – | – | – | — | 0.0376 |
| LJP (Ram Vilas) | 0.0089 | ** | – | – | – | — | 0.0089 |
| JKPDP | 0 | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| KC(M) | 0 | – | – | ** | – | — | 0 |
| Total (remaining) | 1147.885 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6066 | 0.6066 | 1148.492 |
| Grand Total (all) | 3350.565 | 1.515 | 0 | 0.123 | 0.6066 | 2.244 | 3352.81 |
Political parties are required to submit a statement of election expenditure to the Election Commission within 90 days of completion of General Elections and 75 days of completion of State Assembly elections.
The expenditure statement contains details of the total amount received as funds in the form of cash, cheques and demand drafts and the total amount spent under various heads.
The expenditure statement contains information on the amount spent on the following heads at the Central Headquarters and State Unit level by the party:
- Publicity
- Travel expenses
- Other expenses
- Expenditure towards candidates
- Expenditure incurred on publishing criminal antecedents of the candidate (s).
- Expenses on virtual campaign through social media platforms/Apps/Other means by party central & state units
Political parties submit these statements providing information of funds collected and spent between announcement and completion of elections. This period could be between 3 weeks to 3 months based on the notification issued by the Election Commission.
September 4, 2024 was the last date of filing of election expenditure statements for National and Regional parties for the Lok Sabha elections, which was 90 days from 6th June’24, the date of completion of the elections.
Based on the information available on the website of Election Commission of India, the expenditure statements of 14 National and Regional political parties were available in the public domain after a delay ranging between one day to 232 days.
Among National Parties, AAP’s expenditure statement was available after a maximum delay of 168 days followed by BJP (Lok Sabha-139 days, Andhra Pradesh & Odisha- 142 days, Arunachal Pradesh - 154 days and Sikkim - 147 days) and CPI(M) - 96 days.
Only INC has submitted a combined expenditure statement for the Lok Sabha and four Assembly elections. In contrast, BJP, CPI(M), AAP, and BSP have filed separate statements for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Additionally, RJD, LJP(RV), AJSU Party, and KC(M) have submitted expenditure details only for the Lok Sabha elections, while their statements for the assembly elections they contested are yet to be uploaded on the Election Commission’s website.
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