Congress spent Rs 820cr during LS polls, BJP yet to reveal expenses

New Delhi: The Congress collected over Rs 856 crore during the period of Lok Sabha and assembly elections in five states for campaigning and spent a little over Rs 820 crore, details submitted by the party before the Election Commission show.

On March 10 this year, seven-phase Lok Saba and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim were announced.

According to the document signed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Ahmed Patel, Congress' total receipts during the election period was Rs 856.2 crore, whereas it spent Rs 820.9 crore for campaigning.

This expenditure included Rs 626.36 crore on "general party propaganda" and Rs 194 crore on candidates.

Following the Lok Sabha and five-state assembly elections, the party was left with Rs 315.88 crore in its coffers, which included Rs 265 crore in bank accounts and Rs 50 crore as cash in hand.

The party had spent Rs 516 crore in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Over Rs 40 crore was spent by the Congress in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, Rs 36 crore in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 18 crore in Maharashtra and Rs 17 crore in Karnataka and Gujarat.

Rs 15 crore were spent in West Bengal and Rs 13 crore in Kerala for elections.

The ruling BJP is yet to submit its Lok Sabha expense statement to the Election Commission. It had pumped in Rs 714 crore in the 2014 parliamentary elections. The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls were held between April 11 and May 19 and the counting was held on May 23.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power with a bigger mandate.

According to an Economic Times report, the CPM spent Rs 6.4 crore, Trinamool Congress - Rs 10 crore, CPI - Rs 16 crore, Samajwadi Party - Rs 5.5 crore, Shiv Sena Rs 6.5 crore and Sharad Pawar's NCP spent Rs 11.7 crore.

Interestingly, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has said that it did not spent at all on the Lok Sabha polls.