NCP spent Rs 51 cr, BSP cr in 2014 Lok Sabha, Assembly polls; no Cong, BJP data yet

New Delhi: The NCP spent over Rs 51 crore while BSP shelled out more than Rs 30 crore during polls this year in the country, according to the latest data on parties’ election expenses which, however, are yet to be shared by BJP and Congress. The data published by Election Commission (EC) said that of the six recognised national political parties, two – BJP and Congress – are yet to submit the details of their expenditure for the Lok Sabha polls and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim, which were held during 2014.[caption id=“attachment_1839891” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Giving out poll expense data. Reuters[/caption] According to the data, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spent a total of Rs 51,34,44,854 in these polls followed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with an expenditure of Rs 30,05,84,822. CPI (Marxist) incurred an expenditure of Rs 18,69,18,169. The EC has not shared the expenditure made in this regard by CPI even though it said that the party had submitted the relevant information on 15 September. The data as regard BJP and Congress said “not filed”. EC had on 28 November issued show-cause notices to 20 political parties, including Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party, for failing to file their poll expenditure statements for these elections within the stipulated time frame. EC had also warned these parties that it would withdraw their recognition if the statements were not filed and sent to it within the next fortnight. As per the rules, political parties are required to file their election expenditure statements within 75 days of Assembly elections while the deadline in case of Lok Sabha polls is 90 days. PTI