TN parties spent more than ₹180 crore in 2021 Assembly polls

More than ₹180 crore was spent by the political parties in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls in April 2021. With almost all parties submitting their accounts with the Election Commission, an analysis shows that DMK has spent ₹114.14 crore and its arch-rival AIADMK spent ₹57.05 crore.

BJP is the only major party which is yet to submit its accounts for the state elections held in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

DMK received ₹268.56 crore towards elections through electoral bonds and cheques. AIADMK received ₹14.46 crore through cheques and cash.

DMK has spent a total of ₹2.25 crore towards travel expenses of party president M.K. Stalin, who is a star campaigner for the party. “On various dates, Stalin has visited places using an Arrow Aircraft and the total expenses on this alone is ₹2,25,34,684,” said the expenditure details submitted by the party.

Other party campaigners used cars and other vehicles to the extent of ₹16.09 lakh. Advertisement and publicity expenses amounted to ₹39.78 crore. This is towards placing advertisements with various newspapers and TV channels.

Printing of manifesto and other publicity materials costed ₹12.34 crore for the party. The party headquarters also transferred ₹25 lakh to each candidate contesting on the party symbol. The money was transferred using RTGS. In Puducherry, each candidate contesting on the party symbol was given ₹15 lakh. Thus in total the party has sent ₹48.75 crore to party candidates who contested on the party symbol in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Also read: Leaked records open Pandora box of financial secrets

Meanwhile, AIADMK, which lost the assembly elections, has deposited cash to the extent of ₹266.14 crore. Majority of its deposits are with Karur Vysya Bank.

AIADMK has received a total of ₹14.46 crore towards elections, and out of this ₹9.40 crore was received in the form of cash and ₹5.06 crore in the form of cheques. While spending, the party has spent ₹56.80 crore through banks by issuing cheques and the remaining through cash. A total of ₹57.05 crore was spent by the party.

The party said that ₹56.65 crore has been spent on placing advertisements with media and ₹12.41 lakh was spent on travel expenses of star campaigners.

Unlike DMK or all other parties, AIADMK headquarters did not send any money to candidates contesting on the party symbol in the elections held for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assemblies.

Each candidate of Congress, which contested in 25 seats and won 18, received a total amount of ₹1.25 crore from the Congress headquarters. Each candidate received five lakh rupees in the form of cheque.

CPM, which contested in six seats, spent ₹1.19 crore on candidates. In Tamil Nadu, the party has spent ₹19.83 lakh per candidate.

PMK received a total of ₹64.50 lakh and spent ₹20 lakh for the elections. The party contested in 23 seats and won five seats.