Kerala MLAs most spendthrifts among southern states

ADR analysed election expenditures of 907 MLAs from four states and one union territory and found legislators from Kerala had spent 70.1 per cent of their allotted funds.

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NEW DELHI: Of all the MLAs from southern states, only legislators from Kerala have spent over half their allotted election funds, an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report revealed on Thursday. ADR analysed election expenditures of 907 MLAs from four states and one union territory and found legislators from Kerala had spent 70.1 per cent of their allotted funds. MLAs from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry had spent 47.7, 45.9, 45.1 and 25.1 per cent of their funds, respectively. Legislators from Karnataka were not analysed in this aspect.

Kerala legislators also topped in terms of average election expenditure with Rs 19.6 lakh. They were followed by Tamil Nadu with Rs 13.36 lakh, Andhra Pradesh with Rs 12.84 lakh, Telangana with Rs 12.63 lakh and Puducherry with Rs 5.02 lakh. MLAs spent maximum funds (29%) for arranging vehicles during their campaign. A quarter of their expenses went into campaign materials while eight per cent of their funds were diverted for campaign in electronic and print media. Around 20 per cent of the funds were used to hold public meetings during the campaign. Interestingly, none of the governments in the southern states have been formed with a vote share of above 50 per cent. Andhra Pradesh elected a government by giving 49.96 per cent votes to the winning party followed closely by Karnataka with 48.12 per cent. Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana followed with 47.18, 46.78, 44.37 and 43.37 per cent of the votes.

In terms of cases relating to electoral malpractices, from a total of 44 MLAs from southern states, 20 were from Karnataka followed by 11 from Tamil Nadu, six from Telangana, five from Andhra Pradesh and two from Puducherry. In total, a total of 128 legislators from across the country had declared cases against themselves relating to electoral malpractices.

Survey stats

• Total number of legislators - 922 
• Number of MLAs analysed - 907  
• No of states/UTs analysed - 5 (Karnataka legislators not analysed)

Expenditure stats

• Only Kerala legislators have spent more than 50% of prescribed limit 
• Most amount spent on vehicles used on campaigns
• 8% spent on election campaign through media

Vote share analysis

• No party has won more than 50% vote share in any state
• Govt formed with highest vote share (49.9%) in Andhra Pradesh
• Govt with lowest vote share (43.3%) in Telangana

Vote share of winners

• Telangana- 43.37%
• Tamil Nadu - 44.37%
• Kerala - 46.78%
• Puducherry - 47.18%
• Karnataka - 48.12%
• Andhra Pradesh - 49.96%

Electoral malpractices

• 128 legislators from across the country have cases registered against them relating to electoral malpractices
• 44 (34%) are from southern states  
• 20 from Karnataka, 11 from Tamil Nadu, 6 from Telangana, 5 from Andhra Pradesh and 2 from Puducherry

Avg election expenditure 

• Puducherry - Rs 5.02 lakh
• Telangana - Rs 12.63 lakh
• Andhra Pradesh - Rs 12.84 lakh
• Tamil Nadu - Rs 13.36 lakh
• Kerala - Rs 19.6 lakh

State-wise percentage of election expenditure

• Kerala - 70.1%
• Tamil Nadu - 47.7%
• Andhra Pradesh - 45.9%
• Telangana - 45.1%
• Puducherry - 25.1%

Expenditure breakdown

• Vehicles - 29%
• Campaign materials - 25%
• Public meetings - 20% 
• Campaign through media - 8%
• Campaign workers - 8%
• Misc - 5%