New Delhi, March 01: At a staggering Rs 10,000 crore,
the Lok Sabha polls this summer would cost more than what
Barack Obama and others spent in the US Presidential race.
According to information available with the US Federal
Election Commission, Obama and other candidates collectively
spent close to USD 1.8 billion (nearly Rs 8,000 crore) in the
2007-08 Presidential Elections.
A survey conducted by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) back
home pegs the estimated amount to be spent on the Lok Sabha
Elections, which would determine the next government in the
country, at about Rs 10,000 crore (USD 2 billion).
This does not include the cost of holding Assembly Polls
in states like Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
While the cost of US elections was spread over a year,
India would see the massive spending in a matter of months.
The estimated Rs 10,000 crore cost for the Lok Sabha
elections includes about one-fourth or Rs 2,500 crore being
spent through "unofficial money" or the cash to be paid to
voters by the candidates, the CMS survey says.
The latest Presidential Elections in the US has been
billed as the most expensive ever, with cost doubling from the
previous elections held in 2004.
Similarly, the cost of general elections in India,
according to CMS, is also set to more than double this year
from about Rs 4,500 crore in last Lok Sabha polls and would be
the highest in the history of the country.
According to the CMS study, the government spending would
be about 20 percent of the total expenses, 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, EVMs and polling booth.
Various political parties are expected to spend about Rs
1,650 crore from their party funds, which would include about
Rs 1,000 crore from the two main parties -- Congress and BJP
alone.
In addition to spending by parties, candidates of the
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.
As per the information available with the US Federal
Election Commission, Obama topped the list of all Presidential
candidates by spending over USD 760 million -- more than
double the amount of about USD 358 million spent by his
Republican rival John McCain.
Another Democrat Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton
spent about USD 244 million.
According to another set of estimates for the US
elections compiled by Washington-based think-tank Centre for
Responsive Politics, the overall cost of the 2007-08 US
federal elections was USD 5.3 billion, including about USD 2.4
billion on the presidential race.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, March 01, 2009, 00:00