Rs 60,000 Crore: Decoding the Most Expensive Lok Sabha Election

The BJP is estimated to have spent 45 percent of the total, or Rs 27,000 crore.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections were the most expensive polls ever fought in India.

How expensive? Rs 6,00,00,00,00,000.

That’s Rs 60,000 crore.

A report by the Center for Media Studies (CMS) in New Delhi has estimated the total expenditure on the general elections to be around sixty thousand crores. However, what does this amount mean and how does one put it into context ?

The Quint spoke to PN Vasanti, director-general of CMS, and asked her to decode the 12-digit figure as well as explain the major insights from the report.

‘Most Expensive But Most Unfair’

“You can clearly see in this election the people who have been elected.  We have the maximum number of criminals. We have the maximum number of millionaires.  What does this prove,” asked Vasanti.

“That if I do not have enough money to spend in election campaigning am unable to even think about contesting. So, right there, elections have become unfair to most of us in the country. Then where is the democracy that I believe in?”

PN Vasanti, Director General, CMS

‘Mother of All Corruption’

Vasanti added that among the major learnings from the survey was that the corruption in the electoral process stemmed from the fact that the top priority of many elected MPs was to recover the money that was spent in the campaigning.

“So the higher the amount a party or candidate invests in an election, it is the same amount or even more that he expects on return on investment when he/she comes to power. We’ve termed it ‘mother of all corruption ’because that’s where the corruption in our system originates from.”  

PN Vasanti, Director General, CMS

Who Spent How Much ?

According to the report, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the highest spender by a big margin, accounting for about 45 percent of the total money spent. This amounts to Rs 27,000 crore.

• BJP: 45 percent – Rs 27,000 crore
• Congress: 15 percent – Rs 9,000 crore
• ECI:  15 percent – Rs 9,000 crore

However, Vasanti cautions that the the actual amount could well be higher than the Rs 60,000 estimate because the report only considered expenses that were publicly available and those that were incurred after the Model Code of Conduct kicked-in.

“The amount of money that has been spent in this election, I see it as the top of the iceberg. Beneath the surface the whole business model of the amount that they spent before the Model Code of Conduct was put into place is not traceable.”

PN Vasanti, Director General, CMS

How Much Was Spent on Previous Elections?

The money spent on the 2019 general elections was six-times the total expenditure done on the elections 20 years ago, in 1999:

1998: Rs 9,000 crore
1999: Rs 10,000 crore
2004: Rs 14,000 crore
2009: Rs 20,000 crore
2014: Rs 30,000 crore
2019: Rs 60,0000 crore