The YSR Congress and Telugu Desam gave it all from their pocket

Hyderabad:The YSRC and Telugu Desam have topped the list of political parties across the country in spending more than 70 to 80 per cent of their own funds for election campaign.

Whereas, the TRS spent the highest amount on public meetings, processions with star campaigners, the TD spent highest on publicity through electronic media. This was revealed in a study conducted by the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms on election expenses submitted by 537 MPs after the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.

The data compiled, during the Lok Sabha elections 2014, revealed that a total cash of Rs 299 crore, 1.61 crore litres of liquor, 1,707 crore mg of drugs and 57,335 illegal arms and ammunitions were seized across the country. There were a total of 8,04,433 Model Code of Conduct violations and 4,26,077 notices issued by the Election Commission of India.

“We received expenditure statements of 537 MPs. However, the declaration of expenditure by MPs is significantly lower,” said Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu, co-ordinator, National Election Watch.

Of the 537 MPs analysed, 194 MPs declared that they had not received any funds from political parties, 165 declared that they had not received any funds from any person in the form of gift or donation and 52 declared that they had not used any of their own funds for their election campaign.

“On an average an MP from the NCP raised 56 per cent of their election expense from the political party. CPM MPs too raised 71 per cent expense from the party whereas the YSRC and TD MPs raised nothing from parties. Instead, the majority used their own funds,” he said.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati of TD from Vizianagaram declared the lowest election expenditure of Rs4.10 lakh