Amount equals FDI received in 1995-96. A fourth of this likely to be splurged "unofficially" on voters. AP, Karnataka may top list of vote buying states
India will see a staggering Rs 10,000 crore, equivalent to the foreign direct investment it received in 1995-96, being spent on Lok Sabha polls this summer, with a fourth of the amount expected to be splurged on voters.
The official spending is likely to be about 20 per cent of the total expenses, including about Rs 1,300 crore by the Election Commission, and the rest by political parties in campaigning, says a survey by Centre for Media Studies (CMS).
An amount of Rs 2,000-2,500 crore would be spent in form of "unofficial money" or cash paid to the voters.
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka may top the list of states trying to purchase votes, with nearly half of voters there likely to be paid "cash for vote" about 24 hours before the polling day, said the election expenditure survey by CMS.
The Election Commission is likely to spend Rs 1,300 crore, while state governments and other government agencies, for purposes like photo identity cards, EVMs and polling booth, are expected to spend about Rs 700 crore.
Various political parties are expected to spend about Rs 1,650 crore from their party funds, in addition to the direct and indirect spending by the individual candidates.
Candidates of the national parties are estimated to incur a bill of Rs 4,350 crore, while those from the regional parties are expected to spend another Rs 1,000 crore.
In terms of areas where money would be spent, the canvassing would incur about Rs 3,500 crore, while printed materials would attract about Rs 2,000 crore.
Another Rs 1,500 crore could be spent on other media channels such as video, audio, cable, cinema, SMS and TV advertising. Besides, about Rs 1,500 crore could go for public meetings, wages and rallies etc.
The 2004 Lok Sabha election had cost the country Rs 4,500 crore against about Rs 3,200 crore in 1998 and Rs 2,100-2,200 crores in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.
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CMS said the two national parties -- Congress and the BJP - alone would now be spending Rs 750-1,000 crore in all.
The country received around USD two billion as FDI in 1995-96 and at today's exchange rate, it works out to Rs 10,000 crore.
However, the Rs 10,000 crore projected spending does not include expenditure on account of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa Assembly elections, also due this summer.
CMS said the Andhra Pradesh assembly poll campaign is expected to be in the order of Rs 1,000 crore, excluding Rs 550 crore that is likely to be spent on poll-eve publicity.