Story perspectives

BJP and Congress Disclose Five-State Election Spending Totals

By Drooid · Sep 25, 2026, 4:36 PM UTC · How we work

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BJP Cash Surge

The BJP and Congress disclosed spending for the five state assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Kerala.
BJP’s cash and bank balance rose to Rs 7,689.06 crore after the cycle, following Rs 1,494 crore in receipts.
Combined outlay reached Rs 777.55 crore, with BJP at Rs 529 crore (Rs 286 crore West Bengal) and Congress at Rs 248.55 crore.
BJP won seats in Assam, West Bengal and a coalition in Tamil Nadu.
The NDA also secured victories in Kerala and Puducherry.

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Expenditure Inequality Revealed

The BJP and Congress published spending for the five elections held in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Kerala this year.
Such disparity shows the BJP’s West Bengal outlay of Rs 286.9 crore—over half its total—far exceeds Congress’s entire five-state spending, exposing inequality enabled by uncapped party expenditures.
Congress spent Rs 248.5 crore overall, including just Rs 42 crore in West Bengal.
After the polls, BJP’s headquarters held Rs 7,627.2 crore compared with Congress’s Rs 103.2 crore balance.

History

Historical Context

After the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling forced all parliamentary candidates to file self-sworn affidavits, ADR launched its Election Watch program, cataloguing about 1.82 lakh candidates and pressuring the Election Commission for financial disclosures. Decades later, the BJP’s campaign spending dwarfs that of the Congress, reviving concerns that the original transparency reforms remain unevenly enforced.

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BJP Cash Surge

The BJP and Congress disclosed spending for the five state assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Kerala.
BJP’s cash and bank balance rose to Rs 7,689.06 crore after the cycle, following Rs 1,494 crore in receipts.
Combined outlay reached Rs 777.55 crore, with BJP at Rs 529 crore (Rs 286 crore West Bengal) and Congress at Rs 248.55 crore.
BJP won seats in Assam, West Bengal and a coalition in Tamil Nadu.
The NDA also secured victories in Kerala and Puducherry.

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