The saffron party also collected the highest amount — Rs 213 crore.

In the May 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, political parties reportedly collected and spent as much as Rs 356 crore and Rs 170 crore respectively. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as per a report by the election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), was the highest grosser with Rs 213 crore and spent nearly Rs 139 crore, also the most.

According to the ADR report, the BJP collected Rs 213.47 both at the centre and state levels, which is nearly 60 per cent of the Rs 356.04 crore received by the 13 national and state parties that contested the assembly polls. Along with that, the BJP was also the top spender in the state, with an expenditure of Rs 139.04 crore. The report adds that of this amount, a little over Rs 103 crore were spent on publicity and nearly Rs 18.5 crore was spent on travel.

The Congress party was second to the BJP in terms of amassing money. The party received Rs 104.83 crore and spent nearly (of which Rs 23.79 crore were towards publicity).

The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) — now the elected government in the state (in coalition with the Congress) — despite political parties being required to submit details of their expenditure to the Election Commission within 75 days of completion of Assembly Elections, however, has not made public its election expenditure, an IANS report suggests.