BJP spent over Rs 209 crore in Gujarat assembly elections 2022: Expenditure report

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent Rs 209 crore in the Gujarat Assembly elections held last year, as per the details submitted by the party to the Election Commission. The party has been in power in the state for more than 27 years now.

BJP spent Rs 209.97 crore on general party propaganda and funding of candidates, according to the main election expenditure report on Gujarat polls submitted by the party on July 15. The expenditure report was put in the public domain by the poll panel on Thursday.

In December last year, the BJP returned to power after scoring a landslide win, bagging 156 out of 182 seats. The state polls were held in two phases, with polling for the first phase in 89 seats held on December 1, and for the remaining 93 seats on December 5.

The party paid nearly Rs 41 crore to candidates contesting the polls and over Rs 15 crore was spent on travel expenditure, including use of aircraft and helicopters.

On general party propaganda, it spent Rs 160.62 crore.

The 2022 Assembly elections witnessed a turnout of 64.33 per cent, around 4 per cent less than the previous Assembly polls in 2017. Of the 4.9 crore registered voters, only 3.16 crore voted in the 2022 elections.

Gujarat has 182 Assembly seats and the majority mark is 92. The BJP, which hasn't lost an election in Gujarat since 1995, crossed an all-time record of 149 seats in the 2022 Assembly election.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his gratitude to the people of Gujarat after the party's historic win.

"Thank you Gujarat. I am overcome with a lot of emotions seeing the phenomenal election results. People blessed politics of development and at the same time expressed a desire that they want this momentum to continue at a greater pace. I bow to Gujarat’s Jan Shakti," PM Modi tweeted.

He credited the BJP workers in Gujarat for the victory and lauded their hard work.

(With PTI inputs)