Leaders Online Desk : Lok Sabha Election 2024 : When the first general elections were held in independent India, the Election Commission spent approximately Rs.10.5 crores. But now the situation has changed a lot. Now thousands of crores of rupees are spent to conduct general elections. This is only the Election Commission's expenses. But if the expenses of political parties and candidates are added to it, the figures are beyond our imagination.
In fact, political parties and candidates spend like water to win elections. Although the Election Commission has fixed the limit on the expenditure of the candidates, there is no restriction on the parties. That is why the Lok Sabha elections held in India are now becoming the most expensive elections in the world. The amount spent in the last few general elections is equal to the GDP of many countries.
The Center for Media Studies estimates that this time i.e. the 2024 general elections, the expenditure could exceed Rs 1.20 lakh crore. If this happens, it will be the most expensive election in the world so far. Not only this, election expenses are doubling every five years. It is estimated that 60 thousand crore rupees will be spent in the 2019 elections. Before that, it is said that in 2014, about 30 thousand crores of rupees were spent. (Lok Sabha Election 2024)
How expensive are elections becoming?
The entire cost of elections is borne by the government. The central government pays for the Lok Sabha, while the state governments pay for the assembly elections. If the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are held simultaneously, the expenses are shared between the Center and the States.
According to the Election Commission, Rs 10.45 crore was spent in the first general election. For the first time in 2004 elections, this expenditure crossed 1000 crores. 1,016 crore was spent in that election. 1,115 crore in 2009 and Rs 3,870 crore in 2014. The figures for 2019 are not out yet. However, the Election Commission is believed to have spent more than Rs 5,000 crore in 2019.
How much do parties cost? (Lok Sabha Election 2024)
According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), all political parties collected funds worth Rs 6,405 crore in the 2014 elections. And 2,591 crore was spent on this.
According to the report, the seven national parties collected funds worth Rs 5,544 crore in the last election. Out of this, BJP alone got Rs 4,057 crore. Congress had received funds of Rs 1,167 crore. In 2019, BJP spent Rs 1,142 crore. While Congress spent more than 626 crores.
In 2019, BJP had won 303 seats. Accordingly, BJP got one seat for an average of Rs 4.4 crore. In the same election, Congress could win only 52 seats. So their average cost to win a seat was more than 12 crores.
Where does this money go?
The Election Commission spends all the money on the election process. During elections, money is spent on things like purchase of EVMs, deployment of security forces and purchase of election materials. Last year, the Law Ministry had demanded more than Rs 3,000 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Political parties and candidates spend a lot without Election Commission. For the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission has fixed a limit of Rs 95 lakh for a candidate. That is, a candidate cannot spend more than 95 lakh rupees on election campaign. But there is no limit on the expenses of political parties.
Political parties spend the most on three things. This includes publicity, travel, candidate expenses. During the election campaign, the star campaigners of the parties hold several meetings throughout the day. Helicopter service is used for that. In 2019, the BJP alone spent an estimated Rs 250 crore on travel.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, political parties spent around Rs 1,500 crore on campaigning. Among them, seven national parties have spent more than Rs 1,223 crore. BJP and Congress spent the most on campaigning. BJP spent Rs 650 crore and Congress Rs 476 crore.
How much will this cost? (Lok Sabha Election 2024)
It is estimated that Rs 1.20 lakh crore will be spent in this year's elections. It is expected that only 20 percent of the expenditure will be borne by the Election Commission, while the remaining expenditure will be borne by political parties and candidates.
