The two national parties --- Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party --- officially spent nearly Rs 335.92 crore in the last two Karnataka Assembly elections held in 2013 and 2018.
According to the ‘statement of expenditure’, submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Congress spent nearly Rs 185.17 crore in the two Assembly elections, while BJP spent Rs 150.75 crore.
JD(S), the third major player in Karnataka politics, has not submitted the statement of expenditure to the ECI.
When the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was at the Centre in 2013, the Congress spent nearly Rs 92.34 crore and the BJP, which was in opposition at the Centre and ruling the state, spent only Rs 28.07 crore.
When NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the Centre in 2018, the BJP spent nearly Rs 122.68 crore. In this, Rs 100.45 crore was spent by the central unit of the party and the remaining Rs 22.23 crore by the state/district units of the party.
Congress, which was ruling the state, spent Rs 92.83 crore and the entire expenditure was borne by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
‘Just tip of the iceberg’
Experts said the official figures, provided by the parties, are just the tip of the iceberg, and the actual expenditure can be five to six times higher than that.
They added that this Assembly election could see the national parties expand their spending purse by at least Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore compared to last term.
Political scientist Sandeep Shastry said both the national parties are desperate to win Karnataka and have financial resources to ensure their political message reaches the masses.
Spend on ads
A closer look at the expenditure statement by the two parties in 2018 and 2013 shows that parties spend heavily on advertising in print, television and social media platforms.
In 2018, BJP spent nearly 65% of its total expenditure (Rs 84.19 crore) on advertisement on various platforms whereas in 2013, it spent only Rs 14.49 crore.
Congress spent Rs 21.60 crore in 2018 and Rs 18.06 crore in 2013 on advertisements.
On star campaigners
On Star campaigners’ travel expenses, BJP spent nearly Rs 16.37 crore in 2018. However, this excludes the travel expenses of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was the main vote-puller for the saffron party. The details of his travel expenditure are not mentioned in the statement provided by the party.
The Congress, in the same election, spent Rs 10.5 crore for ferrying its star campaigners, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
In 2013, the parties spent Rs 3.46 crore (BJP) and Rs 3.44 crore (Congress) on the travel expenses of star campaigners.
The BJP office-bearers refused to comment on the total expenditure. “We are expected to spend more in this Assembly election,” KPCC vice-president Suraj Hegde said.
He said they will match every expenditure that the BJP is expected to make.
“We are scaling up our election expenditure. As of now, we are not in a position to estimate the total expenditure. We will not leave any stone unturned in reaching out to voters,” Hegde said.