ADR report shows Bihar election winners spent an average of ₹24.33 lakh, with Alok Kumar Mehta highest at ₹36.55 lakh and Nagendra Raut lowest at ₹79,000. 70 percent funds came from parties.

The average expenditure of winning candidates in last year’s Bihar elections stood at around ₹24.33 lakh, with about 42% of MLAs declaring election expenses of less than 61% of the ₹40 lakh limit, a report said.

According to the report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the candidate expenditure limit for the Bihar elections was ₹40 lakh, and out of the 240 MLAs analysed, 100, or 42%, declared expenses of less than 61% of that limit.

Based on the election expense declarations of the 240 MLAs, the average amount of money spent by them in the elections stood at ₹24.33 lakh.

A party-wise break-up showed that the average spending by 88 BJP MLAs was ₹27.36 lakh, or 68.4% of the expense limit.

For the 84 JD(U) MLAs, the average election expenditure was ₹25.53 lakh, or 63.8% of the expense limit, while the figures stood at ₹19.60 lakh, or 49% of the limit, for the 19 Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MLAs.
 

For the five Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) MLAs, the average election expenditure was ₹16.89 lakh (42.2%), while it stood at ₹24.84 lakh (62.1%) for the four Rashtriya Lok Morcha legislators.

Among the opposition parties, ₹19.57 lakh was declared as the average election expenditure of 24 RJD MLAs, or 48.9% of the expense limit; ₹13 lakh (32.5%) for six Congress MLAs; ₹17.05 lakh (42.6%) for two CPI(ML) Liberation MLAs; ₹21.39 lakh (53.5%) for the lone CPI(M) MLA; ₹17.37 lakh (43.4%) for five AIMIM MLAs; and ₹23.74 lakh (59.4%) for the lone Indian Inclusive Party MLA. The sole BSP legislator spent ₹18.34 lakh, or 45.9% of the expense limit, the report said.

Alok Kumar Mehta of the RJD, who won from Ujiarpur, was the highest spender at ₹36.55 lakh, around 91% of the expense limit, while JD(U)’s Sursand MLA Nagendra Raut spent the least at ₹79,000, it said.

Of the total funds received by the MLAs, 70% came from political parties, 13% from the candidates themselves, and 17% from other sources.