In a recent disclosure to the Election Commission, the Congress party revealed that it provided a total of Rs 1.40 crore to its leader Rahul Gandhi for his election campaigns in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This amount was split equally, with Rs 70 lakh allocated for each of the constituencies from which Rahul Gandhi contested: Wayanad and Rae Bareli.
The report, submitted by the Congress as part of its ‘part election expenditure statement,’ indicates that Rahul Gandhi was one of the party’s highest beneficiaries. The only candidate who received more than Rahul Gandhi was Vikramaditya Singh, who was allocated Rs 87 lakh. Despite this substantial support, Singh lost the Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh to BJP’s Kangana Ranaut.
Other prominent Congress candidates also received Rs 70 lakh each. This includes Kishori Lal Sharma, who secured a victory against BJP’s sitting MP Smriti Irani, K.C. Venugopal, who contested from Alappuzha in Kerala, and Manickam Tagore from Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu. Congress candidates from Gulbarga in Karnataka, Radhakrishna, and Vijay Inder Singla from Anandpur Sahib in Punjab also received the same amount.
In contrast, senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Digvijay Singh, both of whom did not win their respective elections, were provided Rs 46 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, respectively.
Rahul Gandhi retained his seat from Rae Bareli and won from Wayanad, though he only retained the Uttar Pradesh seat. The Congress party won a total of 99 seats in the parliamentary elections.
The Congress’ election expenditure statement highlights the significant funds allocated to candidates, reflecting the party’s strategic financial support. Although there are expenditure limits set for individual candidates, political parties are not bound by such limits.
In January 2022, the government revised the election expenditure limits for candidates. For Lok Sabha elections, the limit was increased from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 95 lakh, and for assembly elections, it rose from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. Currently, the expenditure limit stands at Rs 90 lakh for larger states and Rs 75 lakh for smaller states.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections, conducted in seven phases, concluded with results announced on June 4. Alongside the parliamentary polls, Congress also submitted its expenditure statements for legislative assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.
