In numbers: 2019 Elections costliest ever; BJP spent 45% of it

New Delhi, June 05: Elections in the world's biggest democracy have become the most expensive too. The 2019 elections saw the expenditure up by nearly six times in 20 years (1998-2019) from Rs 9,000 crore to over Rs 55,000 crore.

According to a study by the Centre for Media Studies, the BJP accounts for nearly 45 per cent of the total poll spending in 2019 as against 20 per cent in 1998. The share of the Congress, which incurred 45 per cent of the total expenditure in 2009, was 15-20 per cent this time.