Comparison of Election Expenditure of political parties during Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly Elections, 2009
- Total funds collected by the major political parties which contested in Maharashtra Assembly Elections in 2009 was Rs 81.07 crores while parties which contested in Haryana Assembly Elections collected a total of Rs 69.79 crores
- Total expenditure incurred by the parties which contested in Maharashtra Assembly Elections was Rs 15.74 crores while parties from Haryana spent a total of Rs 15.87 crores
- Political parties of Maharashtra spent a total of Rs 59.33 crores by cheque while the parties of Haryana spent a total of Rs 9.09 crores by cheque
- A total of Rs 8.9 crores was spent in cash by parties of Maharashtra while Haryana parties spent Rs 6.56 crores in cash
· Total funds collected by the National Parties during the assembly elections amount to Rs 73.59 crores; total expenditure incurred: Rs 63.53 crores.
· BSP declared that no funds were collected and no expenditure incurred in Maharashtra during the Assembly Elections, 2009.
· Shiv Sena, RJD and MNS contested in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Only Shiv Sena submitted its election expenditure statement to the Election Commission. MNS was an unrecognized party at the time of the elections, and was thus not required by the ECI to submit a statement of election expenditure.
· Total funds collected by Shiv Sena for Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Rs 7.48 crores; expenditure incurred by Shiv Sena: Rs 6.26 crores.
Expenditure incurred in cash and cheque by major parties of Maharashtra during Assembly Elections:
· Out of the total expenditure of Rs 69.79 crores declared by National and regional parties, expense of Rs 59.33 crores (85%) was incurred in cheques, while Rs 8.9 crores (13%) was spent in cash, and Rs 1.56 crores (2%) was remaining unpaid.
· INC declared an expenditure of Rs 26.37 crores by cheque / DD and Rs 8.12 crores in cash, while Shiv Sena incurred expenditure of Rs 5.10 crores by cheque and Rs 0.04 crores in cash.
Expenditure of political parties under various heads:
· The main heads under which political parties declare their expenses are publicity, travel, other / miscellaneous expenses and expenditure on candidates.
· Political parties of Maharashtra spent 77% of their total expenditure on publicity, 10% on travel expenses, 9% on candidates, and 4% on miscellaneous expenses during the Assembly Elections, 2009.
· Political parties spent maximum amount of their expenditure on publicity. INC, BJP, NCP, CPI and SHS declared expenditure under the head of publicity, a total of Rs 61.89 crores.
· INC, CPI and CPM are the only parties which declared expenditure on candidates, a total of Rs 7.3 crores
Expenditure of political parties on Publicity:
· There are seven main items listed under publicity expenditure which are: printed material (manifesto, pamphlets, poster, handbill etc.),electronic media (hiring time slots etc. in private channels), making and distribution of video films, audio cassettes, advertisements in newspapers/magazines/
· Political parties of Maharashtra collectively spent Rs 40.19 crores (or 65%) on advertisement, Rs 15.53 crores (or 25%) on electronic media and Rs 4.58 crores (or 7%) on cut outs, hoardings etc. during Assembly Elections, 2009.
· Among the expenditure incurred on publicity, INC has spent the maximum amount of Rs 14.6 crores on electronic media followed by Rs 6.44 crores on advertisement
· Political parties of Haryana spent 77% of their total expenditure on publicity, 20% on candidate
· INC, INLD and HJC (BL) declared the maximum amount of their election expenditure on publicity. INC declared having spent Rs 7.62 crores, INLD spent Rs 1.98 crores and HJC (BL) spent Rs 1.66 crores on publicity.
· INC and CPM declared that they had not spent any money on travel.
Expenditure of political parties on Publicity:
· Political parties of Haryana collectively spent Rs 5.47 crores (or 45.58%) on electronic media, Rs 4.93 crores (or 41.08%) onadvertisement and Rs 0.595 crores (or 4.95%) on printed material during Assembly Elections, 2009.
· Among the expenditure incurred on publicity, INC has spent the maximum amount of Rs 4.66 crores on electronic media followed by Rs 2.73 crores on advertisement.
· BJP has listed incorrect data under the head of “printed material” in publicity, resulting in the total amount spent on publicity not adding up. Data for “printed material” for BJP has thus been excluded for this report.
· HJC (BL) spent the maximum amount of Rs 1.14 crores on advertising, while INLD spent its maximum amount of Rs 1.05 crores on the same.