Despite claiming to be the most transparent party, the AAP was the last political party to submit its expenditure incurred in 2013 Delhi polls to the Election Commission, more than a year after the deadline, a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch has claimed.
The BJP too submitted its expenditure more than 10 months after the due date, while the Congress was three months late in furnishing the details to the Election Commission. The deadline to sumbit the expenditure details of December 2013 Assembly polls to the EC was February 24, 2014.
The report analysed the funds received and expenditure incurred by the BJP and AAP during the election period of 26 days of Delhi Assembly polls of 2013.
The AAP submitted its expenditure details to the EC as late as April 6 this year while the BJP submitted the details on December 31, 2014 and the Congress furnished its expenditure details on May 13, 2014---three days before the Lok Sabha polls. Interestingly, BJP ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) submitted its expenditure details on February 5, well before the deadline.
The AAP received Rs 20.75 crore donation--of which Rs 20 crore was in form of cheques-- while the BJP received Rs 27 lakh of which Rs 21 lakh was in cash and rest in cheque. The AAP spent Rs 26.11 crore on election.
Interestingly, during the Assembly polls which saw a high-profile campaign by the BJP and rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party incurred expenditure of just Rs 3.15 crore.
Of the total expenditure, the AAP spent Rs 17.06 crore on expenditure towards its candidates, while Rs Rs 7.26 crore were spent on publicity.
Similarly, the BJP incurred zero amount towards its candidates, followed by publicity on which it spent Rs 2.63 cror, which constitutes 83 per cent of its total election expenditure.