 "election 2024")
Today marks the commencement of India's parliamentary elections, a monumental event that will unfold in seven phases starting on April 19.
Conducting an election of this scale is a monumental task for the Election Commission (EC), requiring meticulous planning to ensure that the voting rights of the country's vast population are upheld. This election will witness approximately 968 million eligible voters exercise their democratic rights.
As the EC aptly puts it, this is a celebration of democracy, representing the world's largest electoral movement in terms of both manpower and resources.
However, orchestrating an election on such a grand scale also comes with a significant cost. The expenses involved in conducting a Lok Sabha election have risen steadily over the years. For instance, during India's first election in 1951-52, which spanned 68 phases, the cost was a modest Rs 10.5 crore. Fast forward to 2019, and the cost had skyrocketed to a staggering Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion), according to a report by the Centre for Media Studies.
Based on previous years' trends, the 2024 election is expected to cost approximately double the amount of the last election, amounting to a staggering Rs 1,00,000 crore.
This surge in costs can be attributed to various factors, including the increase in the number of eligible voters and evolving campaign strategies, particularly the rising expenditure on social media. In 2014, the cost of the Lok Sabha election was Rs 3,870 crore, showing a significant increase over the years.
Analysing the expenditure per elector, it is evident that the cost has increased from 6 paise per elector in 1951 to Rs 46 in 2014. This indicates the growing financial burden of conducting elections in India.
N Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies, told Bloomberg that a major portion of the election expenses is allocated to social media campaigning. This sentiment was also echoed by Simon Chauchard, a Columbia University lecturer, who noted that Indian politicians are increasingly resorting to extravagant and innovative strategies to sway voters.
“Indian politicians feel you’ve got to do new things, and crazier things, and bigger things and louder things. It’s a bunch of panicky candidates throwing money around to voters but also to vendors selling all kinds of stuff useful in a political campaign," he said.
But what exactly does the Election Commission spend on during polls?
The expenses are diverse — from deploying officials and armed personnel to setting up polling booths, procuring electronic voting machines (EVMs), and acquiring other necessary equipment like edible ink, as well as running awareness programmes.
Of these, procuring EVMs constitutes a significant portion of the expenses. According to an Indian Express report, since the completion of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the expenditure on procuring and maintaining EVMs has increased. In the first Budget after the election, the Centre allocated Rs 25 crore for EVMs. In the latest Budget, Rs 1,891.8 crore was initially allocated for EVMs, with an additional demand for grants of Rs 611.27 crore tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Winter Session of the House.
Administrative costs also form a substantial part of the expenditure. The EC has to remunerate its officials and volunteers for their poll-related work. Officials are paid to attend training sessions and travel. The EC also conducts campaigns and videographs polling and campaigns of political parties, significantly increasing the expenses.
A recent order by the EC, dated March 22, reveals that a presiding officer is paid Rs 350 per day while polling officers receive Rs 250 per day.
The EC's budget, according to government data, has increased from Rs 236.6 crore in 2018-2019 to Rs 340 crore in 2023-2024. This rise corresponds with the increase in EC staff — from 591 personnel in 2022 to 855 in 2024.
Experts also noted that the escalating cost of elections is expected, given the scale of the Lok Sabha elections. The first general election featured 1,874 candidates from 53 parties contesting in 401 constituencies (including dual member seats), requiring 196,000 polling booths.
In 2019, these figures surged — with 8,054 candidates from 673 parties contesting in 543 constituencies, necessitating 1.037 million polling booths.
And who bears this entire expense?
According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Law and Order in October 1979, the Centre fully covers the cost of the Lok Sabha election.
Similarly, the cost of state Assembly elections is entirely borne by the state government. However, if the elections to state and Lok Sabha are conducted simultaneously, the cost is shared equally between the state and the Centre.
This time, along with the Lok Sabha polls, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Odisha will also go to the polls on May 13.
What makes the 2024 Lok Sabha election the most expensive in history?
This election is expected to be quite costly, given its lengthy duration. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be conducted over a span of seven phases, extending across a lengthy and arduous 44 days. The first phase commences today, April 19, followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, respectively. Results will be announced on June 4.
The total duration of the electoral process this time, from the announcement of the polls by the Election Commission on Saturday to the counting of votes, will span 82 days.
The 2024 election season, lasting 44 days, will be the lengthiest ever since the inaugural Lok Sabha election in 1951-52. The earlier polls took place from October 25, 1951 to February 21, 1952 and were conducted over a staggering 68 phases, with an unprecedented 105 million individuals exercising their newly acquired voting rights.
