Candidates contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections spent an average of Rs 57.23 lakh on their campaigns, as per the Election Atlas released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 12 February. The report provides key insights into campaign expenditures, voting patterns, and the increasing number of political parties and candidates over the years.
Highest and Lowest Campaign Spenders
Among individual candidates, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor emerged as the highest spender, reporting an election campaign expenditure of Rs 94.89 lakh. In contrast, Trinamool Congress MP Pratima Mondal had the lowest declared expenditure at just Rs 12,500.
Other High-Spending Candidates
Rahul Gandhi (Congress) spent Rs 92.82 lakh in Wayanad.
DMK’s Ganapathy Rajkumar P. spent Rs 92.96 lakh in Coimbatore.
Three Karnataka MPs—Sunil Bose, B Y Raghavendra, and E Tukaram—featured among the top 15 spenders.
Four MPs from Himachal Pradesh reported an average campaign expenditure of Rs 85.46 lakh each.
Candidates with Low Spending
Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid spent Rs 2.10 lakh.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju reported campaign expenses of Rs 20.67 lakh.
Election Spending Limits and Growth in Candidates
To address rising election costs, voter base expansion, and inflation, the maximum spending limits for Lok Sabha candidates were revised in 2022. The updated limits are:
Rs 95 lakh for candidates contesting in larger states such as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
Rs 75 lakh for candidates in smaller states and Union Territories like Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, and Lakshadweep.
The Atlas also highlighted a significant rise in political participation:
- The number of political parties has increased nearly 15-fold since India’s first general election.
- The number of contesting candidates has grown five-fold, with 8,360 candidates in the 2024 elections.
However, 7,190 candidates forfeited their deposits, suggesting a lack of substantial voter support for many independent and smaller party candidates.
Election Commission Assures Robust Polling System
Speaking at the launch of the Election Atlas, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reaffirmed the integrity of India’s electoral system, emphasising its built-in mechanisms to prevent errors and manipulation.
“Lakhs of officials, including booth-level officers, feed data into the system. As a design, nothing can go wrong… The system throws up red flags,” Kumar stated.
He added that these safeguards make the Election Commission “extremely confident” that the electoral process is error-free and that any mistake will be automatically flagged by the system.
