NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding its claims of being strapped for resources to take on a funds-rich BJP, Congress spent over Rs 820 crore on its campaign for the general elections to the Lok Sabha and assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana , Odisha and Sikkim .The amount is way higher than the Rs 516 crore it had spent during the 2014 general elections. Even BJP’s 2014 election expenditure was at Rs 714 crore. BJP is yet to submit accounts for its spending in the 2019 LS elections.As per the election expenditure statement filed by Congress with the Election Commission on October 31, the party spent Rs 626.3 crore on general party propaganda and nearly Rs 193.9 crore on candidates. The party’s total receipts during the polls — between announcement and its completion — stood at Rs 856 crore.According to election expenditure statements made by other national parties, Trinamool Congress spent Rs 83.6 crore on the LS polls, BSP Rs 55.4 crore, NCP Rs 72.3 crore and CPM Rs 73.1 lakh.Congress party’s social media head Divya Spandana was in May quoted by media reports as saying, “We don’t have the money.”She had lamented the party was not getting enough contribution through government bonds, compelling the party to opt for online crowd sourcing to raise money. This was endorsed in a tweet by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who said,“I don’t think we need to be embarrassed about acknowledging that @incIndia is facing a funding crunch.”Of the Rs 626.36 crore spent on publicity by the grand old party in general elections 2019, Rs 573 crore was paid by cheque and only Rs 14.33 crore in cash. The central party headquarters spent Rs 356 crore on media publicity and advertisements.Around Rs 47 crore were spent on posters and poll material and Rs 86.82 crore on travel expenses of star campaigners. The spending by Congress was Rs 40 crore in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, Rs 36 crore in UP and Rs 18 crore in Maharashtra. In West Bengal , the party had spent nearly Rs 15 crore and another Rs 13 crore in Kerala, from where Rahul was in the fray.