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The presidential election in America is now in its last phase. No one can say who will win between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Predictions and surveys cannot be trusted to decide who will be the new President of America… but one thing is certain that the price of the world's oldest democracy is very high.
According to the information, a candidate can spend a maximum of Rs 53 lakh in Britain. They can spend it only when they get five months time for campaigning. This means that if elections are held in the country on time, then it can spend this much within 5 months of the dissolution of Parliament. At the same time, if the election is announced early and the time for campaigning is less, he cannot spend more than Rs 22 lakh.
However, Indian elections have also become expensive over time. But there are some fundamental differences between American and Indian election spending. Before we find out what it is, let us first understand that at least $16 billion is expected to be spent on the US presidential election and the simultaneous Congressional elections this year. In Indian rupees, the expenditure on this election is about Rs 1 lakh 36 thousand crores.
According to a study by the Center for Media Studies, all political parties together spent approximately Rs 1 lakh crore in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in India. This is expected to be the most expensive election ever in the electoral history of India. The question is, how is election spending in America and Britain different compared to India?
What is the scope of expenditure in Indian elections?
A candidate from a small state can spend a maximum of Rs 75 lakh in Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, in big states its expenditure can be increased up to Rs 95 lakh. At the same time, if we talk about assembly elections, the limit for candidates from big states has been fixed at Rs 40 lakh, while for small states the limit has been fixed at Rs 28 lakh. Keep in mind, the Election Commission has set this limit for the candidates, there is no limit on the expenditure of political parties.
What is the state of election spending in Britain?
Talking about Britain, here a political party can spend a maximum of Rs 60 lakh on one seat. This is a meeting. This political party can spend a maximum of £35 million (more than the total number of seats in the country) in the entire election. This is approximately Rs 380 crore in Indian rupees. Like India, in Britain too it is clear how much a candidate can spend on his election campaign.
How much can it cost in America?
People and corporate organizations donate large sums of money to candidates running in US elections. Although the amount of donation is fixed, the US Supreme Court has made it clear in several decisions that there is no limit on the expenditure of the parties. So in the 2024 presidential election, it is estimated that the Democrat and Republican parties will spend approximately $5.5 billion.
Meanwhile, if we add the expenses of the US presidential elections along with the parliamentary elections (called congressional elections in the US), the amount could exceed $16 billion. As we mentioned above, in Indian Rupees it reaches approximately Rs 1 lakh 36 thousand crores. It is because of institutional donors that the expenditure in American elections has reached this level.
