New Delhi: Electing the 15th Lok Sabha would cost at least Rs 10,000 crore—more than the US presidential polls, says a development research organisation.
The amount includes Rs 2,500 crore of “unofficial money”, or the cash candidates will give to voters, estimates a study by Centre for Media Studies.
An amount of Rs 4,500 crore is estimated to have been spent in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Money required since then has doubled, and elections in 2009 would be the most expensive the in the country’s history.
The amount of Rs 10,000 crore ($ 2 billion) does not include the cost of holding assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
The study claims the government would fund about 20 per cent of the total amount, including about Rs 1,300 crore by Election Commission and about Rs 700 crore to be spent by various central and state government agencies for purposes like photo identity cards, electronic voting machines and polling booths.
Various political parties are expected to spend about Rs 1,650 crore from their party funds. The BJP and the Congress will spend about Rs 1,000 crore.
Individual candidates of national parties are estimated to put in Rs 4,350 crore, while those from the regional parties are expected to spend another Rs 1,000 crore.
The US Presidential elections last year were the most expensive in America’s history, too. Presidential candidates spent close to $1.8 billion.
Money would flow in India faster though: the US elections were spread over a year, but India would see the massive spending in a matter of months.
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