BJP's Bengal outlay dwarfs Congress across five state elections

Filings with the Election Commission reveal the BJP’s total outlay for five state elections reached Rs 529.38 crore, with Bengal alone receiving Rs 217.16 crore for general campaigning and Rs 69.83 crore for candidate expenses, accounting for more than half of the party’s spend. In the Bengal contest the BJP won 207 of the 293 declared seats, while the Trinamool Congress secured 80 and the Congress, contesting independently, won two seats with a reported Rs 42.08 crore outlay.

The Congress’s overall spending across the five polls was Rs 248.55 crore, including Rs 105.34 crore in Kerala where it outspent the BJP’s Rs 82.67 crore. The CPI(M) disclosed Rs 28.60 crore spent in Kerala. The BJP also reported expenditures of Rs 96.27 crore in Assam, Rs 51.56 crore in Tamil Nadu and Rs 11.90 crore in Puducherry. During the election period the BJP’s central headquarters received Rs 1,472.8 crore and ended with a balance of Rs 7,627.2 crore, while the Congress’s receipts fell from about Rs 169.06 crore to Rs 103.2 crore.