Costliest Election: Each candidate to shell out Rs 10-25 Cr for MLA seat, Rs 25-100 Cr for MP seat

Hyderabad: Ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Telangana State will be one of the costliest in the annals of the state if politicians are to be believed.

Even as political parties are gearing up for assembly polls, the candidates and aspirants are busy trying to mobilize the funds for the electoral battle.

The sale of tickets for a whopping sum has already rocked some political parties.

Ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) besides Telugu Desam, CPI, CPM, Jana Sena are among the political parties in the fray.

BRS led by K Chandrasekhar Rao is trying for a third straight win and already blazing guns with sops and multimedia publicity to counter the growth of Congress and rival BJP.

Assembly contest cost

If leaders of ruling and opposition parties are to be believed, a good fight for an assembly seat will cost a candidate anywhere between Rs 10 crore to Rs 25 crore. Lok Sabha seats anywhere between Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore this time.

“This is the likely expenditure a candidate aspiring to win the seat has to spend. It may vary. Though there will be only one winner, the rivals too have to match to try their luck. The expenditure in recent by elections in Telangana has left aspirants shocked,” a senior BRS leader said.

A senior Congress leader puts a candidate’s expenditure for the Assembly constituency anywhere between Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore. “Take the average of Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 per voter, depending on the constituency and demand. The expenditure may vary for a candidate if the party supports him or her on publicity,” he explains.

Not all can afford to compete with this kind of expenditure. “I cannot spend this kind of amount. I cannot afford it and hence I did not apply. Moreover, I stay in the Old city of Hyderabad and there is no chance,” says G Niranjan, a senior Congress leader.

Elections in Old City of Hyderabad on sentiment, communal passions. Interestingly, the electoral battle in the Old City of Hyderabad is a different ball game.

If a senior AIMIM leader is to be believed, MIM doesn’t distribute money to voters during elections. Interestingly, he says, even rival BJP candidates don’t distribute money to voters. There is a bare minimum expenditure on publicity and maintenance of cadre only.

“The whole elections in the Old City of Hyderabad are fought on sentiment and communal passions. Expenditure is mainly on the booth-level workers who are taking care of travel, food, and other expenses. We don’t indulge in the distribution of money. Even BJP doesn’t do it in Old City,” asserts the MIM leader.

More virtual campaigns

A candidate seriously contesting polls has to maintain cadre, vehicles, publicity, social media, and physical distribution of cash before the polls and on the polling date, which is crucial.

There has been a drastic shift in changing modes of campaigning, which is gradually shifting to virtual campaigns. Smartphones and TV campaigns are the order of the day.

Allegations of the sale of tickets have already rocked the Congress party and its season of Ayarams and Gayarams in all the political parties, more so in ruling BRS.

While Assembly polls are likely to be held this year-end, the Lok Sabha polls are due next year.

EC hikes limits on candidates’ expenses

Following representations from various political parties, the Election Commission of India, the statutory authority which conducts polls for Assembly and Lok Sabha in the country, enhanced the limits of candidate’s expenses last year.

For Assembly constituencies, expenditure limits have been enhanced from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 40 lakh in bigger states and from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh in smaller states.

The ceiling on parliamentary poll expenditure has been raised from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 95 lakh in bigger states and Rs 54 lakh to Rs 75 lakh in smaller states.

The bigger states include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka, and the smaller states include Goa, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and UTs.

The ceiling on poll expenditure in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir has been raised to 95 lakhs. The last major revision in the election expenditure limit for candidates was carried out in 2014, which was further increased by 10% in 2020.

EC Committee recommendations

The Election Commission formed a committee comprised of Harish Kumar and others to study the cost factors and other related issues and make suitable recommendations.

The Committee invited suggestions from political parties, Chief Electoral Officers, and Election Observers. The committee found that there has been an increase in the number of electors and the Cost Inflation Index since 2014.

It also factored into the changing modes of campaigning, which is gradually shifting to virtual campaigns.

Having regard to the demand from political parties to raise existing election expenditure limit for candidates and increase in electors from 2014 to 2021 from 834 million to 936 million (up by 12.23 %) and rise in Cost Inflation Index from 2014-15 to 2021-22 from 240 to 317 (up by 32.08%), the Committee recommended enhancement of the ceiling limit.

EC accepted the recommendations of the Committee and has decided to enhance the existing election expenditure limit for candidates.

The last major revision in the election expenditure limit for candidates was carried out in 2014, which was further increased by 10% in 2020.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi now BRS showed an expenditure of Rs 14,00,24,240 and Rs 21,77,93,300 in the last two elections.

Misuse of money, and muscle power continues

Despite EC’s steps to ensure free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections misuse of money and muscle power continues unabated, particularly in by-elections.

Election expenditure can broadly be divided into two categories. One is a legal expenditure, which is allowed under the law for electioneering, subject to it being within the permissible limit. It includes expenditure connected with campaigning, which is spent on public meetings, public rallies posters, banners, vehicles, advertisements in print or electronic media, etc.

The second category of the election expenditure is on items that are not permitted under the law, e.g., distribution of money, liquor, or any other item disbursed and given to the electors with the intent to influence them. This expenditure comes under the definition of “bribery” which is an offence both under IPC and under R.P. Act, 1951 (The Act). The expenditure on such items is illegal.

Yet another form of expenditure that is coming to the fore in recent times is Surrogate Advertisements, Paid News social media, etc. It's difficult for the EC to check the same since the expenditure is hidden by parties and candidates.

Expenditure on campaigning through social media tends to be underreported, if at all, especially by candidates.

Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 makes it mandatory for every candidate to the House of the People or a State Legislative Assembly, to keep a separate and correct account of all expenditures incurred or authorized by him or by his election agent, between the date on which he was nominated and the date of declaration of the result of election, both dates inclusive.

The total of the said expenditure shall not exceed such amount as may be prescribed under Section 77(3) of R.P. Act, 1951.