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2024 Lok Sabha Election Estimated Cost Rs 1.35 Lakh Cr. Rs 1400 Per Voter: Report

  • By Thetripurapost Desk, Agartala
  • Apr 27, 2024
  • 24

In terms of expenditure, the 2024 Lok Sabha election is on its way to become the world's most expensive election, breaking the previous record. N Bhaskar Rao, president of Center for Media Studies (CMS), a non-profit organization, made this claim.

He estimates that the expenditure in this election is expected to reach Rs 1.35 lakh crore. This figure is more than double the expenditure of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rs 60,000 crore was spent in the 2019 elections.

Rao said this comprehensive expenditure includes all direct or indirect expenditure related to the elections, including political parties and organisations, candidates, the government and the Election Commission. 

Rao said that initially we estimated that the expenditure would be Rs 1.2 lakh crore

However, after the disclosure of electoral bond stake, we have revised this figure to Rs 1.35 lakh crore. He said this estimate covers expenses incurred 3-4 months before the announcement of polling dates.

Recent comments by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have revealed a 'significant lack of transparency' in political funding in India. It claims that from 2004-05 to 2022-23, the country's six major political parties have received a total of Rs 19,083 crore (about 60%) from unknown sources.

This also includes money received from electoral bonds.
There are 96.6 crore voters in the Lok Sabha elections. It is estimated to cost around Rs 1,400 per voter. This has exceeded the spending of the 2020 US election, according to OpenSecrets.org, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC. Rs 1.2 lakh crore was spent in the US elections in 2020.

N Bhaskar Rao said it is estimated that 30 per cent of the total election expenditure will be spent on media campaigning on various platforms. Amit Wadhwa, CEO of leading advertising agency Dentsu Creative, said that there has been a significant increase in digital promotions this year.

Political parties are behaving like corporate brands and taking help of professional agencies for better brand recall.