Big spenders: Election expenses cross Rs 6,500 crore, shows data

An audit data reveals that in the 2015-2020 period, the BJP spent over Rs 2,000 crore of its total election expenditure on advertisements and publicity alone

More than Rs 6,500 crore was spent on elections by 18 political parties, including seven national parties and 11 regional parties, between 2015 and 2020, shows an analysis of the annual audit reports of political parties submitted to the Election Commission of India. Of this, political parties spent more than Rs 3,400 crore, or 52.3 per cent, on publicity alone.

Audit reports show that when it comes to election expenditure, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent 56 per cent (over Rs 3,600 crore) of the total election outlay by all 18 parties in five years and the Indian National Congress (INC)