Political parties spent Rs 136.88 crores during the elections to MP, Delhi, Chhatisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and J&K in 2008 ;

BJP has declared that the party did not spend any money on publicity or travel or other expenses during the 6 Assembly Elections

INC has the declared the maximum amount of Rs 102.56 crores as expenditure incurred during the 6 Assembly elections

NCP is the only national party to not submit its expenditure statement to the ECI

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference is the only regional party to submit its expenditure statement to the ECI

Total expenditure of national and regional parties: Rs 136.88 crores ·

Political parties are required to submit a statement of election expenditure to the Election Commission within 75 days of completion of Assembly Elections

The expenditure statement contains details of the total amount received as funds in the form of cash, cheques and Demand Drafts and the total amount spent under various heads ·

The expenditure statement contains information on the amount spent on various heads at the state, district and constituency levels by the party ·

Expenditure is declared under the following heads:

Publicity

Travel expenses

Other expenses

Travel expenses of leaders and workers

Miscellaneous expenses

Political parties submit these statements providing information of funds collected and spent from the date of announcement of elections to the date of completion of elections, which could be between 3 weeks and 3 months based on the notification issued by the Election Commission

This report analyses the funds received by the political parties, during the election period of 79 days (14-10-2008 to 31-12-2008)

National Parties: Funds Collected and Expenditure Incurred

National Parties considered for the report: INC, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI, CPM

NCP is the only national party which has not submitted its expenditure statement to the Election Commission

Number of days within which the funds were collected and spent: 79 days (14-10-2008 to 31-12-2008)

Total funds collected by the national parties during the assembly elections: Rs 182.12 crores

Total expenditure incurred by the national parties: Rs 135.52 crores Regional Parties: Funds Collected and Expenditure Incurred

Regional Parties considered for the report: JKNC, JKNPP, RJD, AIFB, JD(S), JD(U), RLD, Shiv Sena, SP, CPI(ML)(L), JMM, RSP, ZNP, MPC, INLD

Of the above 14 regional parties which contested in at least one assembly election of the 6 considered, only JKNC has submitted its election expenditure statement to the Election Commission*

Total funds collected by JKNC: No funds collected

Total Expenditure incurred by JKNC: Rs 1.36 crores

Funds Collected and Expenditure Incurred in Cash and Cheque

93.43% of the total funds received by INC during election period was by cash (Rs 81.92 crores) while 85.60% of the total funds received by BJP was by cash (Rs 14.44 crores)

100% BSP’s funds of Rs 76.20 crores was collected in cash

Unlike the funds collected, the parties’ preferred mode of expenditure is by cheque/DD, according to the statements submitted

58.29% of the total expenditure of INC was by cheque/DD (Rs 59.78 crores) while 98.74% of the total expenditure of BJP was by cheque or DD (Rs 25.17 crores)

Recommendations of ADR

A format similar to the donations report along with date of donations, submitted to the ECI on an annual basis, has to be prescribed for the expenditure statement so as to bring in more transparency in the finances of the political parties especially during elections when it is said that black money plays a major role

All political parties must submit their statements of expenditure in the format given by the ECI including details of expenditure at the state, district and constituency levels

Similar to the shadow observers of the ECI for monitoring expenditure of candidates, there must also be observers for monitoring the expenditure of political parties For more

Details of expenditure incurred on publicity and helicopters. For more information please (Click Here)