According to Section 78 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, every contesting candidate has to lodge a true copy of his election expenses within 30 days from the date of declaration of result of election, with the District Election Officer in all States and Union Territories. Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch have analysed all 294 election expenditure statements submitted after the West Bengal Assembly Election 2026 for newly elected MLAs. The expenditure limit for the MLAs during the West Bengal Assembly elections was Rs. 40 lakhs. These election expense documents include details of expenses on public meetings and processions, campaigning through electronic and print media, expense on campaign workers, expense on vehicles used, expense on virtual campaign, expense on publishing of declaration regarding criminal cases and expense on campaign materials.

Recommendations:

• Each Winner is required to file his election expenditure statement within 30 days of the results of the elections, the deadline in case of the West Bengal Assembly Elections being the 4th June 2026. However, it was observed that the election expenditure statements of the Winners were not uploaded on the CEO/DEO’s website till significantly after the deadline. It is recommended that the Abstract Expenditure Statement (Annexure E2) of the MLAs is uploaded on the website of the CEO within 72 hours of the receipt of the statement.
• The deadline for filing an election petition against any Winner is 45 days after the declaration of the results. Generally, MLAs submit their election expenditure statements towards the end of the 30 days given for submission of the statements. This leaves 15 days for any common citizen to file an election petition against any Winner. The deadline for filing an election petition should be increased in order to give the citizens time to scrutinize the election expenditure statements of the MLAs and gather the relevant documents/proof etc. for the election petition.
• As has been instated in the filing of affidavits during the elections, the MLAs should not be allowed to keep any field blank on the Abstract Election Expenditure statement (Annexure E2) and Schedule 1 to 11. The statements must be filled in a legible format and overwriting of amounts in the statement should be discouraged.

Summary and Highlights of Election Expenses of MLAs

• Less than 50% of the Limit: The candidate expenditure limit for West Bengal assembly elections 2026 was Rs 40 lakhs. Out of 294 MLAs analysed, 43 (15%) MLAs have declared election expenses less than 50% of the expense limit in their constituency.
• Average Election Expenses: Based on the election expense declarations of 294 MLAs from West Bengal Assembly, the average amount of money spent by them in the elections is Rs 23.86 lakhs, which is 60% of the expense limit.
• Party-wise Average Election Expenses: The party wise average election expenses shows that the average spending for 208 from BJP, the average election expenditure is Rs.24.20 lakhs (60.5% of the expense limit), for 80 MLAs from AITC, the average election expenditure is Rs.23.66 lakhs (59.2% of the expense limit), for 2 MLAs from Aam Janata Unnayan party, the average election expenditure is Rs.16.50 lakhs (41.3% of the expense limit), for 2 MLAs from INC, the average election expenditure is Rs.15.82 lakhs (39.6% of the expense limit), for 1 All India Secular Front MLA the election expenditure is Rs.14.71 lakhs (36.8% of the expense limit), and 1 CPI(M) MLA the election expenditure is Rs.8.21 lakhs (20.5% of the expense limit).
• Expense on Public Meeting, Rally, and Processions with Star Campaigners (other than those for general party propaganda): Out of the 294 MLAs analyzed, 261 (89%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on public meetings, processions etc. with star campaigners (other than those for general party propaganda) and 33 (11%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on public meetings, processions etc. with star campaigners (other than those for general party propaganda).
• Expense on Public Meeting, Rally, and Processions without Star Campaigners (other than the ones with star campaigners of the political party): Out of the 294 MLAs analyzed, 293 (99.66%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on public meetings, processions etc. without star campaigners (other than the ones with star campaigners of the political party) and 1 (0.34%) MLA has declared that He has not spent any funds on public meetings, processions etc. without star campaigners (other than the ones with star campaigners of the political party).
• Expense on Campaigning through electronic/print media: 60 (20%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on campaigning through electronic/print media and 234 (80%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on campaigning through electronic/print media.
• Expense on Campaign Workers: 218 (74%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on campaign workers and 76 (26%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on campaign workers.
• Expense on Campaign Materials: 202 (69%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on campaign materials and 92 (31%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on campaign materials.
• Expense on Campaign Vehicles: 212 (72%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on campaign vehicles and 82 (28%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on campaign vehicles.
• Expense on Publishing of Declaration Regarding Criminal Cases: Out of the 191 MLAs analysed with declared criminal cases, 180 (94%) MLAs have declared that they have spent funds on publishing of declarations regarding criminal cases and 11 (6%) MLAs have declared that they have not spent any funds on publishing of declarations regarding criminal cases.

Summary and Highlights of Sources of Funds Raised by MLAs

• Percentage Breakdown of funds Raised by MLAs: Out of the total funds received by MLAs, 93% funds were raised from political parties, 4% were raised by MLAs themselves and 3% funds were raised from other sources.
• MLAs Who Raised Funds from Political Parties: Out of the 294 MLAs analyzed, 289 (98%) MLAs have declared that they have received funds from political parties and 5 (2%) MLAs have declared that they have not received any funds from political parties.
• MLAs Who Raised Funds through any person/ company/ firm/ associations/ body of persons etc as loan, gift or donation etc: Out of the 294 MLAs analyzed, 78 (27%) MLAs have declared that they have received funds from any person/ company/ firm/ associations/ body of persons etc as loan, gift or donation etc. and 216 (73%) MLAs have declared that they have not received any funds from any person/ company/ firm/ associations/ body of persons etc as loan, gift or donation etc.
• Self-funds used for election campaign: Out of the 294 MLAs analyzed, 261 (89%) MLAs have declared that they have used their own funds for their election campaign and 33 (11%) MLAs have declared that they have not used any of their own funds for their election campaign.

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