2 min readNew DelhiMar 11, 2026 04:57 AM IST
THE BJP spent a total of Rs 146.71 crore on fighting the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, in which it ended up as the single largest party, with the majority of the amount spent towards travel expenses of star campaigners and media advertisements, as per its expenditure report submitted to the Election Commission.
The Congress, on the other hand, spent a total of Rs 35.07 crore on general party propaganda and candidates in the Bihar campaign, in the run-up to which Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had carried out the Voter Adhikar Yatra in the state.
The reports, which were published by the EC this week, show that travel expenses of star campaigners and other party leaders remains a major expense for parties, as has been the case in recent years. Parties are required to submit a report of their expenditure after every Lok Sabha and State Assembly election to the EC.
The BJP’s report for Bihar, which was submitted to the EC on February 10, shows the party spent Rs 117 crore on “general party propaganda”, which includes Rs 43.53 crore spent on advertisements, Rs 37.28 crore spent on travel of star campaigners and Rs 4.44 crore spent on travel of other leaders by the central party. The largest chunk of spending on advertisements went to Google India Ltd., to which the party paid Rs 14.27 crore. The party also spent Rs 29.71 crore on candidates’ expenditure. The BJP’s closing balance at the end of the polls in November last year was Rs 7,088.58 crore, the report shows.
The Congress ended the polls with Rs 89.13 crore as the closing balance, after having spent Rs 12.83 crore on travel of star campaigners and Rs 11.24 crore on social media campaigns.
The CPI(M) spent Rs 26.75 lakh on the Bihar election campaign, while the BSP spent Rs 6.01 crore, as per their respective reports. The expenditure reports of other key parties of the state, including the RJD, were not available as on Tuesday.
