2024 Lok Sabha Polls To See A Flood Of Money?
It is said that around Rs 3,426 cr were spent for the Lok Sabha elections which was a big jump of 131 percent than the previous elections.
India went into the election mood already with the Lok Sabha polls. We are done with two phases of elections and the remaining phases will be held soon. The Lok Sabha elections are dubbed as different from the previous elections due to various reasons. The anticipation is quite high.
There is another thing here. The experts say that the elections are going to be the costliest as there would be a flood of cash. It is known that the EC imposed a cap on the spending of the candidates for the elections. But many say that the amount that is spent on elections would be quite high in reality.
Since 2014, we have been seeing a sharp rise in the amount that is spent on the elections. It is said that around Rs 3,426 cr were spent for the Lok Sabha elections which was a big jump of 131 percent than the previous elections.
Cut to 2019, the numbers picked up massively. It is said that as much as Rs 60,000 Crore were spent on the elections making it the costliest elections ever in the country. In some seats, Rs 40-50 cr were spent which was a big amount back then.
Coming to 2024, there is a big jump in the estimated costs. The estimation of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) says that the costs would increase by over two-fold and it takes Rs 1.35 lakh crore for the elections. The amount is quite high and no one would have predicted that we would see such a big amount.
Looking at the reasons behind the big jump, the way the parties are campaigning changed a lot. Social media is the new platform for the parties and candidates to campaign and Google ads are seeing a big popularity of late.
India is a democratic nation and we are called the biggest democracy in the world. People can vote for the candidates they like. However, the open secret here is that money plays a key role and money has to be spent. As an example of this, the Munugode by-polls were dubbed as the costliest elections and voters reportedly received cash and gold.
Another factor is that several rich candidates are in the race. There are many billionaires in the race from various parties. As a big example of the high costs of elections, even Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she could not contest the elections due to lack of money.