Nearly 45% of legislators spend less than 50% of poll expense limit: ADR

According to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Delhi Election Watch, nearly 45% of Delhi MLAs spent less than half of the permissible election expenditure limit during the February Assembly elections. Of the 69 expenditure statements examined, 31 MLAs reported poll expenses amounting to under 50% of the allowed cap. The average spending among all legislators was Rs 20.79 lakh, which is approximately 52% of the maximum limit.

Party-wise, the average expenditure of 47 BJP MLAs stood at Rs 24.68 lakh, or 61.7% of the limit, while the average for 22 AAP legislators was significantly lower at Rs 12.48 lakh, amounting to just 31.2%.

The top three spenders were all BJP legislators. Anil Kumar Sharma from RK Puram topped the list with Rs 31.91 lakh (80%), followed by Parduyumn Singh Rajput from Dwarka (Rs 31.44 lakh, 79%) and Ashish Sood from Janakpuri (Rs 30.68 lakh, 77%).

AAP MLAs emerged as the most frugal. Aaley Mohammed Iqbal of Matia Mahal spent only Rs 4.53 lakh (11%), while Veer Singh Dhingan from Seema Puri and Virender Singh Kadian from Delhi Cantonment both reported expenses just over Rs 6.5 lakh (16%).

In terms of spending categories, the most common expense was on vehicles, reported by 88 MLAs. Public meetings and rallies with star campaigners were another major component, with 72% of legislators incurring costs under this head. About 67% reported expenses on campaign workers, 65% on media advertisements, and 61% on materials like posters and banners.

Regarding campaign financing, political parties were the primary source of funds. Around 75% of the total funds raised came from parties, 14% from individuals and organisations, and 11% from candidates’ personal funds.

The report also noted that 80% of the MLAs received financial support from their respective parties, 57% raised funds via donations or loans, and 91% dipped into their personal finances. Of the 31 MLAs who have declared criminal cases against them, 29 confirmed that they had spent money to publish mandatory declarations about their criminal records, while two did not. The expenditure statement of MLA Vijender Gupta was excluded from the analysis, as it was not available on the official website at the time of the report’s release.

Delhi