Delhi MLAs spent an average of nearly Rs 20.8 lakh on their election campaign in the assembly polls earlier this year — which is just 52% of the Rs 40 lakh expenditure limit set by the Election Commission (EC).While BJP MLAs spent an average of almost Rs 24.7 lakh on their canvassing, AAP MLAs managed to fight their election by spending an average of about Rs 12.5 lakh.This money was spent on various heads, including public meetings, rallies and processions; advertisements in print and electronic media; campaign workers, vehicles and material; and on campaigns through social media, among others.The data was accessed by theAssociation for Democratic Reforms(ADR) and Delhi Election Watch from the website of the chief electoral officer of Delhi, where the expenditure details submitted by the candidates were uploaded and analysed by them.Of the 70 winning candidates, ADR could analyse the election expenditure statements of 69 candidates.

The election expenditure statement of BJP's Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta was not available on the website at the time of preparing the report, ADR said in its press statement.The 2025 Delhi assembly polls saw BJP returning to power after 26 years, with 48 of its candidates emerging victorious against 22 of AAP.Congress failed to open its account in the third consecutive assembly election. The winners are required to file their election expenditure statement within 30 days of the results.As per the ADR report, 31 MLAs declared in their expenditure statement that their expenses amounted to less than 50% of the permissible limit set by EC. The BJP MLAs remained on top of the spending pattern, with RK Puram MLA Anil Sharma reporting the highest expenditure at Rs 31.9 lakh, followed closely by Parduyumn Singh Rajput from Dwarka at Rs 31.4 lakh and Ashish Sood from Janakpuri at nearly Rs 30.7 lakh.The most frugal with their expenditures on campaign material, vehicles, workers, rallies, meetings and processions of 69 MLAs were all from AAP. According to the report, Aaley Mohammed Iqbal from Matia Mahal spent only Rs 4.5 lakh while Veer Singh Dhingan from Seema Puri and Virender Singh Kadian from Delhi Cantonment both spent about Rs 6.5 lakh.The report analysed that the campaign funds were largely spent on hiring vehicles (88%), followed by public meetings and rallies with star campaigners (72%). About 65% of the MLAs declared spending on electronic or print media and 67% reported expenditure on campaign workers. About 61% of the MLAs said they spent money on campaign materials, such as banners and posters.Despite the impact of social media increasing and most candidates trying to remain present on various digital platforms, only one MLA declared that money was spent on this mode while the remaining relied heavily on conventional methods.The legislators declared that their party was the main source of campaign finances. Of the total funds received by MLAs, a large chunk — about 75% — was raised from political parties, 11% of expenditure was borne from their own pockets and the remaining 14% sourced from other avenues.Of the 69 MLAs analysed, 55 declared that they received funds from political parties while 14 said they did not receive a rupee from that source. The number of legislators who received funds from other sources was 39, while 30 said they did not receive any money from any other person, company, firm, associations, or body of persons as a loan, gift, or donation. As per the ADR report, 63 MLAs declared that they used their own funds for their election campaign, and six said they did not use their money.