With a Rs 1.20 Lakh Cr budget, 2024 LS polls could be the world’s costliest

Jaipur: It is said that politics means ‘Sama, Daam, Dand, Bhed’. One has to win elections by any means, but if we look at the present politics, it comes to light that ‘Daam’ (Money) is the most effective factor in winning elections. However, with changing times, politics has also changed. The Election Commission has set many parameters of transparency for the elections, but the expenditure limit is yet to be completely controlled.

When the first general elections were held in independent India, the Election Commission spent approximately Rs 10.5 crore. But now things have changed a lot. Now thousands of crores of rupees are spent on conducting general elections. This is just the expenditure of the Election Commission. But if the expenditure of political parties and candidates is also added to this, then it becomes very high. Centre for Media Studies estimates that this time more than Rs 1.20 lakh crore may be spent in the general elections. If this happens, it will be the most expensive election in the world so far.

Pictures of crores of rupees of cash being seized during elections are seen every time, which gives an idea of how money is spent like water in any state or Lok Sabha elections. According to media reports, during the last Lok Sabha elections (2019), about 8 billion dollars i.e. 55 thousand crore rupees were spent. After which this election destroyed all the records of countries around the world in terms of expenditure.

How expensive are elections becoming?

Governments bear the entire expense of conducting elections. If there are Lok Sabha elections, the Central Government will bear all the expenses. The expenses for Assembly elections are borne by the State Governments. If Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are held simultaneously, then, the expenditure is divided between the Centre and the State. According to the Election Commission, Rs 10.45 crore was spent in the first general elections. This resulted in an expenditure of 60 paise per voter. For the first time in the 2004 elections, the expenditure crossed Rs 1,000 crore as Rs 1,016 crore was spent in that election. The expenditure was Rs 1,115 crore in 2009 and Rs 3,870 crore in 2014. It is believed that in 2019, the Election Commission spent more than Rs 6,500 crore, i.e. means expenditure of Rs 72 per person.

Election expenditure more than the GDP of many countries

To win elections, political parties and candidates spend money like water. The Election Commission has set a limit on the expenditure of the candidates, but there is no restriction on the parties. Not only this, election expenditure is doubling every five years. It is estimated that Rs 60,000 crore was spent in the 2019 elections. Whereas, before this in 2014, it is said that an expenditure of about Rs 30,000 crore was spent. This is the reason 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.

Congress got 12 seats and BJP got one seat worth Rs 4.4 crore

According to the report of Association Democratic Reforms (ADR), in the 2014 elections, all political parties had raised funds worth Rs 6,405 crore and out of this, Rs 2,591 crore had been spent. According to the report, seven national parties had collected funds worth Rs 5,544 crore in the last elections. Of this, BJP alone received Rs 4,057 crore. Congress had received funds of Rs 1,167 crore. In 2019, BJP had spent Rs 1,142 crore. Whereas, Congress had spent more than Rs 626 crore. In 2019, BJP had won 303 seats. According to this, BJP got one seat for an average of Rs 4.4 crore. Congress could win only 52 seats and thus, its average expenditure on winning one seat was more than Rs 12 crore.