BJP spent over Rs 1,000 cr on polls in 2022-23, collected electoral bonds worth over Rs 1,200 cr: Audit

New Delhi: BJP spent five times more than its main rival Congress for elections in 2022-23 while it collected seven times more from electoral bonds, the ruling party’s latest audit report showed.

The BJP incurred Rs 1,092.15 crore for election related expenses in 2022-23 compared to Congress’ expenditure of Rs 192.55 crore. BJP had spent Rs 645.85 crore in 2021-22.

If one takes the controversial electoral bonds, the BJP collected Rs 1,294.14 crore as against Congress’ Rs 171.01 crore in the previous fiscal, in figures that give weight to Opposition’s allegation that the financial instrument is majorly favouring the ruling party.

The audit report submitted to the Election Commission showed that the BJP’s total income rose to Rs 2,360.84 crore from Rs 1,917.12 crore, while that of Congress was just Rs 452.37 crore. The total expenditure was Rs 1,361.68 crore compared to Congress’ Rs 467.13 crore in 2022-23.

Of the total income, electoral bonds accounted for 54 per cent while Rs 2,120.06 crore came from donations for the BJP. Income from bank interest was Rs 237.3 crore compared to previous fiscal's Rs 133.3 crore.

When it comes to elections, the BJP spent Rs 432.14 crore on advertisements while another Rs 78.22 crore was spent for hiring aircraft and helicopters.

BJP sold old newspapers and magazines for Rs 15.59 lakh in 2022-23 as against a meagre Rs 1.33 lakh in 2021-22. But the money spent to buy newspapers and periodicals was Rs 43.89 lakh, down from Rs 49.56 lakh.

BJP’s salary expenditure saw a decline from Rs 47.96 crore to Rs 46.54 crore while electricity and water charges rose from Rs 8 crore to Rs 9.40 crore.

The audit report also showed that Rs 75.05 crore was given as financial assistance to candidates for fighting elections while organising press conferences cost Rs 71.60 lakh.