The Congress spent Rs 46 crore on the Stars social media campaign.
The Congress party spent Rs 585 crore in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the parliamentary elections in Andhra, Arunachal, Odisha and Sikkim. The party has submitted expenditure details of the five elections held from March 20 to June 1 to the Election Commission.
In the report, the Congress said that out of Rs 585 crore, Rs 410 crore was spent on advertising and media campaigns. At the same time, Rs 46 crore was spent on the virtual campaign on social media and the app.
Indeed, all parties must communicate details of their electoral expenses to the Electoral Commission within 75 to 90 days after the announcement of the results.
When parties fail to provide information even after the deadline, the Election Commission sends a notice to the parties, to which the parties do not respond for months.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared on June 4. It has been 124 days since Tuesday October 8. So far, apart from the Congress, no other party has disclosed its election expenditure.
Congress spent Rs 68 crore on banners and posters In the report submitted to the Election Commission, the Congress said Rs 410 crore was spent on the advertising and media campaign. Of these, Rs 68.2 crore was spent on posters, banners, hoardings and other advertising materials.
At the same time, the party spent Rs 105 crore on the air travel of star campaigners. These also include the air travel expenses of Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
At the time of the announcement, the Congress had Rs 170 crore. The Congress said that at the time of the election announcement, the party had Rs 170 crore. After this, Rs 539.37 crore was deposited in the party accounts. Besides, the party received Rs 13.76 crore in cash.
Reason for freezing Congressional account The Income Tax Department had issued a notice to the Congress party on February 13 to recover unpaid tax of Rs 105 crore. The department had imposed a fine of Rs 210 crore on the Congress and frozen the bank accounts.
After this, the Congress had accused the Income Tax Department that the accounts were frozen at the behest of the BJP. Congress leader and lawyer Vivek Tankha has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the income tax action.
Congress’s petition to the High Court was rejected. However, the Congressional account was subsequently unfrozen.
The Congress had declared: “Freezing the account means freezing democracy.” Congress had previously called the tax authorities’ decision tax terrorism. This was only done to weaken the funds of the main opposition party before the general elections.
It was also alleged that the Income Tax department withdrew Rs 65 crore from his bank accounts. Congress had declared that freezing the account meant freezing democracy.
Expenditure details in 2019 Lok Sabha elections
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BJP gave ads worth Rs 102 crore to Google-YouTube in 6 years
The BJP has become the first Indian political party to spend over Rs 100 crore on advertising on Google and YouTube. According to Google’s Advertising Transparency Report, from May 31, 2018 to April 25, 2024, the BJP spent Rs 102 crore on advertising.