BJP spent ₹1,737.68 crore for ’24 LS polls: Expenditure report

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent ₹1,737.68 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party has informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) in its expenditure report, nearly three times the poll expenditure declared by its rival Congress, which spent ₹584.65 crore for the general elections last summer.

The BJP submitted its report to the poll body on January 22, while the principal Opposition party submitted its report on August 16 last year. The reports detail the expenses “incurred or authorised” by political parties between March 16, 2024, when the dates of the Lok Sabha elections were announced, and June 6, when the results were announced.

In its expenditure report, the BJP has declared that of the total ( ₹1,737.68 crore) amount, ₹884.45 crore was spent on general party propaganda, while ₹853.23 crore was allocated for candidate-related expenses. Total expenditure on individual candidates amounted to ₹245.29 crore.

Of the total expenditure for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP allocated ₹1,022.84 crore to its various state units states, much higher than the Congress, which sent ₹20.75 crore to its seven state units for expenditure.

According to the report, the BJP spent ₹611.50 crore on “media advertisement”, including ₹156.95 crore went to Google India, ₹24.63 crore to Facebook.

The party also dedicated a significant portion of its expenditure to election campaign-related travel expenses, with the travel expenditure of the BJP’s star campaigners— including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, and transport minister Nitin Gadkari — as authorised by the party’s central headquarters amounted to ₹168.92 crore, while ₹2.53 crore was spent on the travel of other party leaders.

The expenditure report of the BJP, which secured a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha elections, was recently uploaded on ECI’s website. While submitting its expenditure report, the BJP wrote in a note to ECI: “We regret the delay in the submission of the information.”

In its report, the BJP has also declared ₹55.75 crore as expenditure on publicity materials such as posters, banners, hoardings, and flags to bolster its election outreach.

On the other hand, the Congress’s major expenditure was on advertisements — ₹409.96 crore. To be sure, the opposition party’s Lok Sabha expenditure was clubbed with four assembly elections as well.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken submitted the report to ECI, saying: “Please find statement on election expenses by party for general election to the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha Sikkim.”