The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent ₹286.99 crore on the West Bengal Assembly election alone, exceeding the ₹248.55 crore spent by the Congress across five elections, according to expenditure statements filed with the Election Commission.
The figures cover the Assembly elections held in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry earlier this year. Across the five polls, the BJP’s expenditure through its central office stood at ₹529.38 crore, with West Bengal accounting for more than half of the total.
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In Bengal, the BJP reported ₹217.16 crore on general campaigning and another ₹69.83 crore on candidates and related expenses.
How much did BJP spend in the Bengal election?
The BJP’s Bengal expenditure of ₹286.99 crore was divided between party campaigning and candidate-related expenses.
Of the total, ₹217.16 crore went towards general campaigning, while ₹69.83 crore was spent on candidates. The figures were included in expenditure statements submitted to the Election Commission after the polls.
The BJP’s expenditure in the other four elections stood at ₹96.27 crore in Assam, ₹82.67 crore in Kerala, ₹51.56 crore in Tamil Nadu and ₹11.90 crore in Puducherry, taking its combined five-election expenditure to ₹529.38 crore.
Election expenditure statements submitted by recognised political parties include spending on areas such as campaigning, travel, advertisements, rallies and campaign material.
What was Congress’ total election spending?
The Congress reported ₹248.55 crore in expenditure across the five elections.
Of this, ₹143 crore was spent on general campaigning, while ₹105.55 crore went towards candidates and related expenses, according to the filings.
West Bengal accounted for ₹42.08 crore of the Congress’ reported expenditure through its central headquarters and state unit. This included ₹12.96 crore on general campaigning and ₹29.12 crore on candidates and related expenses.
The Congress spent more than the BJP in Kerala, reporting ₹105.34 crore compared with the BJP’s ₹82.67 crore. Of the Congress’ Kerala expenditure, ₹71.30 crore went towards general campaigning and ₹34.05 crore towards candidates.
How did the BJP’s spending compare across the five states?
State/UT BJP expenditure
West Bengal ₹286.99 crore
Assam ₹96.27 crore
Kerala ₹82.67 crore
Tamil Nadu ₹51.56 crore
Puducherry ₹11.90 crore
Total ₹529.38 crore
The Bengal figure alone was about ₹38.44 crore higher than the Congress’ combined ₹248.55 crore expenditure across all five elections.
The comparison is based on party expenditure statements filed with the Election Commission and reflects reported expenditure, not the total spending by every organisational unit or candidate unless included in the relevant filings.
What do the filings show about party finances?
The filings also provide a picture of the parties’ finances during the election period.
The BJP’s central headquarters received ₹1,472.8 crore during the election period, according to the figures cited by PTI. Its central office reported a closing balance of ₹7,627.2 crore, up from ₹6,722.6 crore when the elections were announced.
The Congress reported ₹207.17 crore in receipts across its headquarters and five state units. Its combined balance declined from about ₹169.06 crore to ₹103.2 crore during the period, according to the same filings.
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The CPI(M), meanwhile, reported consolidated expenditure of ₹39.04 crore across the five elections. Its Kerala state unit reported ₹28.60 crore, while its West Bengal unit reported ₹8.23 crore.
The Trinamool Congress’ expenditure statement for the West Bengal election had not been made public in the source data at the time of reporting.