From 1952 to 2023, India held an average of six elections per year. Let us tell you that this number is only for regular elections to Lok Sabha and Parliament. If you include local elections, the number of elections per year will double. Now, if we talk about election expenditure, the country held its first Lok Sabha election after independence in 1951 and about Rs 105 million was spent on this election. Approximately 170 million voters subsequently cast their ballots. At that time, the expenditure per elector was 60 paise.
The value of one vote, you know what…
Talking about the expenditure for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rs 135 crore was spent on this election. The Media Research Center estimates that as elections are very expensive, the price of a vote this time has reached 1,400 rupees. In the first election, one vote cost 60 paise, increasing to 1,400 rupees in 2024.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the expenditure per voter was Rs 12 and in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the expenditure per voter was Rs 17. In the 2014 elections, the expenditure per voter was around Rs 46, while in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the expenditure per voter increased to Rs 72.
lowest cost
Let us tell you that the lowest-expenditure Lok Sabha elections in the country were held in 1957 when the Election Commission spent only Rs 59 crore, i.e. the electoral expenditure was only 30 paise per voter.
What is the expenditure in which year?
When the Lok Sabha elections were held in 1999, a total of Rs 8.8 billion was spent on the entire process, while in the 2004 elections, this expenditure increased to Rs 1,200 crore. The expenditure for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was around Rs 38.7 billion, and data for the 2019 elections showed the expenditure to be around Rs 65 billion. On top of that, around Rs 40 crore was spent on the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Election committee expenses
To make people aware about voting, the Election Commission has launched advertisements worth crores of rupees, besides spending crores of rupees on electing appointed employees, etc. Thus, holding a Lok Sabha election costs hundreds of millions of rupees.
Who bears the costs
According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Law and Order in October 1979, the central government bears the entire cost of Lok Sabha elections, while the cost of state assembly elections is borne entirely by the state governments.
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