Amlendu Bhushan Khan / New Delhi : No doubt BJP had collected the highest fund but also spent the highest money in the last assembly elections. The BJP’s fund collection and expenditure was the highest among all the parties during the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls in 2014, according to a recent report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The Congress is a distant second.
BJP spent the maximum share of its funds on publicity.
According to ADR, the BJP collected Rs 296.74 crore during the Maharashtra and Haryana polls, which took place around September-October 2014, with its central headquarter gathering Rs 174.16 crore (58.69 %), Maharashta unit collecting Rs 122.78 crore (41.38 %) and Haryana unit contributing Rs 30 lakh (0.1 %).
On the other hand, the Congress could collect only Rs 84.37 crore. While its central headquarter gathered Rs 16.44 crore (19.49 %), Maharashtra unit’s contribution was Rs 62.74 crore (74.36 %) and Haryana unit collected Rs 5.08 crore (6.02 %).
In Maharashtra, the NCP gathered funds amounting Rs 38.10 crore and Shiv Sena collected Rs 16.36 crore. In Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) collected Rs 6.76 crore, Haryana Janhit Congress-Bhajan Lal (HJC-BL), led by Kuldeep Bishnoi at the time, gathered Rs 1.78 crore and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) collected Rs 51 lakh.
When it came to spending, the saffron party was ahead of all. BJP spent Rs 217.68 crore, with its central headquarter spending Rs 151.37 crore (69.54 %), Maharashtra unit using Rs 65.1 crore (29.91 %) and Haryana unit spending Rs 1.21 crore (0.56 %).
When we see expenditure under various heads, the BJP spent Rs 186.39 crore for publicity alone (82.18 %), Rs 16.34 crore was used on travel expenses (7.2 %), and Rs 9.14 crore was given to candidates (4.03 %).
On the other hand, the Congress spent Rs 55.27 crore, with its central headquarter using Rs 8.27 crore (14.96 %), Maharashtra unit spending Rs 35.97 crore (65.08 %) and Haryana unit using Rs 11.03 core (19.96 %).
When we see expenditure under various heads, the grand old party spent Rs 41.19 crore on publicity (65.06 %), Rs 13.97 crore on travel expenses (22.07 %), and Rs 8.05 crore was paid to candidates (12.72 %).
The NCP spent Rs 41.06 crore and Shiv Sena just Rs 17.94 crore. In Haryana, the INLD spent Rs 3.94 crore, HJC-BL made use of Rs 2.52 crore and SAD just spent Rs 46,000.
The BSP didn’t collect a single penny but spent Rs 6.30 crore in the polls.
