NEW DELHI: Out of Rs 93.38 crore spent by the three major political parties—BJP, Congress, AAP—during the Delhi Assembly elections this February, the Congress incurred the maximum expenditure of Rs 40.13 crore. The BJP followed closely with Rs 39.54 crore.
The AAP spent the least, Rs 12.12 crore, according to Association for Democratic Research (ADR). Ironically, the Congress spent the maximum money and yet failed to open its account. The BJP and the AAP secured 48 and 22 seats, respectively.
The total funds collected by nine political parties for the elections amounted to Rs 170.68 crore. The total expenditure was Rs 93.38 crore.
The parties spent the highest, Rs 91.45 crore, on publicity, followed by Rs 19.27 crore on lump sum amounts paid to candidates, Rs 5.95 crore on expenses on virtual campaigns by party central headquarters, Rs 3.12 crore on miscellaneous expenses, Rs 44.24 lakh on publishing criminal antecedents of candidates, and Rs 4.57 lakh on travel. Expenditure on publicity was 76.03% under various heads.
Media advertisements (Rs 52.05 crore) cost the maximum, followed by publicity materials (Rs 4.45 crore) and meetings (Rs 4.96 crore). Publicity expenditure from central HQs was the highest, at Rs 51.13 crore (55.91% of publicity spending), followed by Rs 40.32 crore (44.09%) from state units in Delhi.
Parties spent Rs 4.2L on leaders
Political parties spent Rs 4.20 lakh on their leaders and the remaining Rs 37,000 on travel for their star campaigners. Political parties have declared travel expenses of Rs 4.57 lakh incurred by the Delhi state units, and none from the central headquarters.
According to the Congress’s election expenditure statement, Rs 67.1 crore has been shown as funds received.
Of this, Rs 2.78 crore is recorded as “Adjustment – Inter Office Transactions”, indicating an internal transfer from the party’s central headquarters to the Delhi state unit. Consequently, this amount has not been treated as part of the actual funds received for the election.
After excluding this, amount the party’s effective receipts amount to Rs 64.31 crore. Only the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party has declared its expenses for social media use, while the Congress declared expenses for virtual social media campaigns only.
April 26, 2025, was the deadline for all the political parties to submit their statements of election expenditure to the Election Commission of India.
How money spent in elections
Funds collected by 9 parties: Rs 170.682 cr
Expenditure: Rs 93.375 cr
Parties spent Rs 91.45 cr on publicity
Rs 19 cr lump sum money for candidates
Rs 5.949 cr spent on virtual campaign
Rs 3.123 cr on miscellaneous expenses