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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) central headquarters received a total of Rs 1,472.8 crore ahead of the last round of assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, according to expenditure statements filed with the Election Commission (EC).

The inflow pushed the party’s closing balance to Rs 7,627.2 crore by the time polling concluded on Wednesday, May 6, up from Rs 6,722.6 crore on Sunday, March 15.

Against this, the BJP, including its central headquarters and the relevant state and district units, spent a comparatively modest Rs 160 crore on the three states for which figures are currently available: Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Assam accounted for the highest spend at Rs 96.3 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 51.6 crore and Puducherry at Rs 11.9 crore. Of this, Rs 130.4 crore went towards general party propaganda, while Rs 29.6 crore was spent on lump sum payments to candidates and on publicising their criminal antecedents.

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In Assam, the party’s general propaganda spend stood at Rs 76.7 crore, of which Rs 23.1 crore came from the central unit. The state unit spent Rs 37 crore on advertisements, Rs 27.3 crore on travel for star campaigners, Rs 8.9 crore on publicity material and Rs 2.3 crore on other expenses. Candidates in the state received Rs 19.4 crore as lump sum payments, with a further Rs 16.7 lakh spent on publishing their criminal antecedents. In Tamil Nadu, the party authorised Rs 44.5 crore for general propaganda and spent Rs 7 crore on candidates.

By comparison, the Congress has declared a total election expenditure of Rs 248.6 crore for the same round of polls.

Expenditure statements for West Bengal and Kerala are yet to be released by the Election Commission, so it remains unclear how the Rs 1,472.8 crore in receipts was apportioned across all five states.