BJP comes out as top grossing party during 2018 May Karnataka polls

As much as Rs 356 crore were collected and Rs 170 crore was spent by political parties which contested the May 2018 Karnataka elections. The BJP was the highest grosser with Rs 213 crore and spent nearly Rs 139 crore, also the most. The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) which is ruling the state in coalition with the Congress has not made public its election expenditure. Political parties are required to submit details of their expenditure to the Election Commission within 75 days of completion of Assembly Elections.

According to a report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), released on Tuesday, 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 collected by the 13 national and state parties that contested the assembly polls. The Congress was the next, amassing Rs 104.83 crore followed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with Rs 17.06 crore.

The BJP led on the expenditure front as well, spending Rs 139.04 crore of which a little over Rs 103 crore were expended on publicity and nearly Rs 18.5 crore on travel. The Congress was distant second spending nearly Rs 34.5 crore of which Rs 23.79 crore were towards publicity. The Samajwadi Party spent a little over Rs 9 crore. The AIADMK, which declared that it did not receive any funds spent Rs 5.1 crore in the polls. The parties spent almost 70 per cent of their funds on publicity and nearly 17 per cent on travel. The election was held on May 12, 2018, and results were out on May 15.

(With inputs from agencies.)