BJP's Net Receipts Were Seven Times More Than Congress's During Last Assembly Polls: Reports
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s central party headquarters reported net receipts worth Rs 1,472.8 crore during the last round of assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, according to the documents it submitted to the Election Commission of India. The Congress, the largest opposition party, by contrast, reported net receipts of Rs 207.17 crore and an expenditure of Rs 248.55 crore during the March 15-May 6 period, in its consolidated expenditure report for the five states – seven times lower than that of the saffron party.
The BJP also emerged with substantially more money than it had at the start. Its closing balance stood at Rs 7,627.2 crore upon the completion of elections on May 6, 2026, compared to Rs 6,722.6 crore on March 15, 2026.
The party’s total expenditure, including the party's central headquarters and the relevant state and district units, in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry stood at Rs 160 crore. Almost Rs 130.4 crore of it was spent on party propaganda, whereas Rs 29.6 crore went to candidates in the form of lump sum payments and for the publicity of their criminal antecedents, as required under the rules.
Assam accounted for the highest expenditure at Rs 96.3 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 51.6 crore and Puducherry at Rs 11.9 crore. The expenditure statements for the other two states of West Bengal and Kerala are yet to be made public by the poll body.
The Congress's finances, on the other hand, saw a dip during the polls. Together with its central headquarters and five state units, the Congress began the election period with around Rs 169.06 crore in March and ended with Rs 103.2 crore – a decline of rupees 65.86 crore.
It reported spending rupees 143 crore on general party propaganda and rupees 105.55 crore on candidates across the five states, taking its overall election expenditure to rupees 248.55 crore. The Congress central headquarters spent rupees 40.52 crore on general propaganda across the five states, while its state and local units spent another rupees 102.49 crore under this head.
In Kerala, where the party ousted the Left front from power, accounted for the biggest share of this expenditure at rupees 59.28 crore, followed by Assam at rupees 22.62 crore.
As per BJP's state-wise election expenditure statements, for Assam, the party spent Rs 76.7 crore on general party propaganda, including Rs 23.1 crore spent by its central unit, and another Rs 19.5 crore spent on candidates. In addition, Rs 27.3 crore was spent on travel expenses of star campaigners, Rs 37 crore was on advertisements, Rs 8.9 crore on publicity materials and Rs 2.3 crore on other expenses by the state unit.
A lump sum of Rs 19.4 crore was paid to candidates and Rs 16.7 lakh spent on publishing criminal antecedents of candidates.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, BJP authorised a total spend of Rs 44.5 crore for general party propaganda and Rs 7 crore was spent on candidates.
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