Analysis of Funds Collected and Expenditure Incurred by Political Parties during Bihar Assembly Election, 2020
This report analyses the funds received and expenditure incurred by recognized political parties, during the State Assembly election to Bihar, held between the months of September (elections announced on 25 September 2020) and November 2020 (elections completed on 12 November 2020).
Key Findings
5 National Parties and 12 Regional Parties were considered for analysis in this report. However, the expenditure statements of only 13 political parties are available on the Election Commission’s website.
Total funds collected by 13 political parties during Bihar Assembly Election held in 2020 was Rs 174.313 cr and total expenditure incurred was Rs 86.944 cr.
Among political parties, JD(U) collected the maximum funds of Rs 55.607 cr, of which, Rs 55.6019 cr (99.99%) was collected at the party’s state level.
BSP collected the second highest funds worth Rs 44.581 cr, and BJP collected the third highest funds of Rs 35.832 cr.
Out of the total expenditure of Rs 86.944 cr, BJP incurred the maximum expenditure of Rs 54.721 cr, which forms 62.94% of total expenditure.
INC spent the second highest expenditure of Rs 12.352 cr, and JD(U) spent the third highest expenditure of a total of Rs 9.852 cr.
NCP, RJD, AIFB and NPEP are the only parties that have incurred no expenditure either at the central or at the state unit level despite contesting elections.
Political Parties that contested in Bihar Assembly Elections, 2020, spent the highest, Rs 47.358 cr on Lumpsum amount paid to candidates, followed by Rs 42.671 cr on Travel expenses, Rs 41.684 cr on Publicity expenses, Rs 5.711 cr on Other/Miscellaneous expenses, Rs 5.359 cr on Expenditure incurred on publishing criminal antecedents of the candidate(s).
During Bihar Assembly election, political parties spent the maximum on Media Advertisement (Rs 27.77 cr), followed by expenditure on Publicity Materials (Rs 7.619 cr) and Public Meetings (Rs 6.295 cr).
Political parties spent 91.52% of their total travel expenses or Rs 39.053 cr on their star campaigners and the remaining 8.48% or Rs 3.618 cr on travel of their party leaders.
Both audit and contribution reports are unavailable for 163 RUPPs for FY 2023-24. These parties are characterized by the absence of both audit reports and donation reports on the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs).
The top 3 Parties which spent the highest are: BJP (Rs 71.725 cr) followed by INC (Rs 30.384 cr) and JD(U) (Rs 22.652 cr).
AIFB and NPEP are the only parties that declared no expenses incurred under the five heads.
Observations
- The election expenditure statements of Rashtriya Lok Dal, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Janata Dal (Secular) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for the Bihar Assembly Election 2020 are not available in the public domain despite contesting elections, even after an inordinate delay of more 4 years and 8 months.
- NPEP is the only party which did not declare any funds collected and election expenditure incurred at the Central Headquarters and State Unit level. RJD, AIFB and NCP have not declared any expenditure (by cash, by Cheque/DD and in Kind) during the Bihar Assembly Election, 2020.
- It is important to note that the RJD has not declared the expenditure incurred under Part A (Central Headquarters) and Part B (Bihar State Unit) of its statement. However, a portion of the expenditure amounting to Rs. 6.478 cr has been declared under Part C. Therefore, this amount has not been included in the table showing expenditure incurred by cash, cheque/DD, and in-kind.
- According to Part C of the INC’s election expenditure statement for the Bihar Assembly Election 2020, a total amount of Rs 44.536 cr has been shown as funds received. Of this, Rs 19.13 cr is recorded as “Adjustment – Inter Office Transactions,” indicating an internal transfer from the party’s Central Headquarters to the Bihar State Unit. Consequently, this amount has not been treated as part of the actual funds received for the election. After excluding this internal adjustment, the Congress Party’s effective receipts amount to Rs 25.406 cr.
- The Shiv Sena transferred Rs 10 lakh from its Central Headquarters (Part A) to its Bihar State Unit (Part B). As this amount also represents an internal transfer, it has not been included as election expenditure in the report