According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms(ADR) on Friday, the average expenditure incurred by every MLA elected was Rs 27.1 lakh, which was 68% of the limit of Rs 40 lakh for 2022 assembly election campaigning.
For BJP MLAs, the share was slightly higher at 70%. The report mentioned that the top 10 MLAs with the highest spending were from BJP, whereas out of the bottom 10 MLAs in terms of election expenditure, four were from the BJP, three from AAP, one each from Congress and Samajwadi Party, and one was Independent. The report is based on the election expenditure statements submitted after the Gujarat assembly election 2022 for the newly elected MLAs. Rallies and public gatherings accounted for 59% of the expenses, campaign workers accounted for 13%, and campaign vehicles made up for 12%.
Around 0.5% of the total expenses were towards declaration of criminal cases in the print media by the MLAs. Out of total expenses, 77% were made by the political party, 16% by the candidates themselves, and the rest by others.