It will cost an average of over ₹18.5 crore to elect an MP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, as per the Election Commission’s (EC) estimation of expenses for conducting the polls. According to the EC’s estimation, the overall expenses are likely to be around ₹520 crore for conducting the Lok Sabha elections in 28 Parliamentary constituencies this time.
Official sources said the State’s Finance Department has already approved around ₹400 crore and the remaining will be released based on the actual costs.
During 2023’s Assembly polls, the EC had spent ₹511 crore, an average of ₹2.2 crore to elect an MLA. Sources said the expenses are likely to be around ₹7 to ₹8 crore more than the Assembly polls. “As the Assembly polls were held just a year ago, there will not be a huge difference in the cost,” sources said.
During the previous Assembly election in 2018, the EC had incurred expenses of around ₹394 crore, an average of ₹1.75 crore each constituency. In 2013, the expenditure was around ₹160 crore at an average of ₹65 lakh per constituency.
2019 Lok Sabha polls
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC had spent around ₹413 crore at around ₹14.75 crore per parliamentary constituency. This was a steep increase from the previous election in 2014 when the expenditure was ₹320.16 crore at over ₹11 crore per parliamentary constituency. With price rise and inflation, the cost of poll machinery and infrastructure had seen a steep rise then, officials said.
A major chunk of the budget will be spent on remuneration and training of polling personnel (around three lakh to be deployed) and election observers, transport arrangements (including arranging vehicles for voters with disabilities), preparation of electoral rolls and polling stations, and conducting voter awareness campaigns. “A major component of our expenses is towards hiring of vehicles including KSRTC buses (around 40 buses per constituency) and videography on the polling day, printing of voter slips and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips and EPIC cards,” an official said.
To ensure free and fair elections, web-casting has to be done in all the critical and sensitive polling stations, counting centres and police checkposts where an internet connection is feasible and the remaining videography is done by fixed cameras. Apart from this, expenses will also be incurred on the counting day apart from strong room arrangements, he said.
Other components
“Voter awareness campaigns, distribution of voter slips ahead of the election date, and use of VVPAT (that began for the first time in 2014 Lok Sabha polls) have further pushed up the expenditure. Moreover, the voter population increased from 4.6 crore in 2014 to 5.40 crore this year. The number of polling booths too have gone up from 54,264 in 2014 to 58,871 (including 37 auxiliary polling stations) this year and the related expenditure to provide poll consumables and infrastructure will also be a major component,” he explained.
