HYDERABAD: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) with a total spend of Rs 175.19 crore in the recent Assembly elections topped the list in the state, followed by BJP (Rs 117.12 crore) and Congress (Rs 62.7 crore).
According to the expenditure report submitted to the ECI, the BRS spent Rs 126.92 crore on general propaganda and Rs 48.27 crore on candidates. The major portion of the party’s total expenditure amounting to Rs 71.98 crore went towards media advertisements.
It spent Rs 29.5 crore on organising public meetings, processions and rallies. It incurred Rs 21.41 crore for publicity materials like posters, banners, badges, stickers, cutouts, flags, hoardings, etc. The BRS spent Rs 3.54 crore for hiring copters for the tours of its star campaigners.
The party’s opening balance in its accounts in various banks including the amounts received from various sources after announcement of election schedule was Rs 1698.01 crore and closing balance stood at Rs 1,544.24 crore after the conclusion of elections.
The BJP transferred Rs 176.55 crore to its Telangana state unit bank account between October 19 and December 5, 2023. Out of this, it spent Rs 117.12 crore to fight the elections in the state. According to the report it submitted to the ECI, the state BJP spent Rs 117.12 crore, including Rs 81.28 crore on general propaganda and Rs 35.83 crore on candidates.
Like its rival BRS, the BJP spent a major portion of the funds on media advertisement, amounting Rs 30.35 crore. It distributed Rs 27.5 crore among its candidates at the rate of Rs 25 lakh each to meet election expenditure and spent Rs 13.59 crore on travel expenses of its star campaigners. It spent Rs 43.48 lakh for public meetings, processions and rallies.
It spent Rs 4.59 crore on virtual campaign through social media platforms.
The Congress, which came to power, spent Rs 62.7 crore. The AICC transferred Rs 5.06 crore to its state party unit. Out of Rs 62.7 crore expenditure, the Congress distribute Rs 35.4 crore among its candidates at the rate of Rs 30 lakh each. It spent Rs 15 crore on social media campaigning.
Interestingly, the Congress hired a helicopter belonging to Rithwik Green Power and Aviation Private Ltd., owned by BJP MP CM Ramesh, for ferrying Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other party leaders from one public meeting to another from November 13 to 15, 2023 and November 26, 2023. It paid Rs 1.8 crore for this purpose to the BJP MP’s firm.
