Underlining the role that money plays in corrupting voters, national convener of Fight Against Corruption Through Electoral Reforms (FACTER) Arun Kumar Srivatsav has said that the money spent in elections is the source of all corruption that is to come in the future.
Addressing a media conference in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, Mr. Srivatsav said that an election system where no political party or candidate will have to spend any money and all publicity platforms for all candidates are provided by a Constitutional authority is the need of the hour.
“As per a report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and our estimate, the BJP spent around ₹30,000 crore in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while its main rival, the Congress, too spent ₹7,000 crore. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s election expenditure rose to ₹50,000 crore whereas the Congress spent ₹9,000 crore. The party with more spending power won the elections. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is expected to spend over ₹1,00,000 crore,” Mr. Srivatsav said.
