Assembly polls to cost over ₹1 crore per MLA

It will cost over ₹1 crore to elect an MLA in the forthcoming Assembly elections, as per the Election Commission (EC) estimation based on what it incurred for last year’s Gundlupet and Nanjangud bypolls.

Sources in the EC told The Hindu that it would require over ₹250 crore to conduct the elections this time.

In 2013, the expenditure was around ₹160 crore at ₹65 lakh per legislator. “With price rise and inflation, the cost of poll machinery and infrastructure will see a steep rise. We have estimated that we need at least ₹1 crore for a legislator apart from charges that we may incur for any re-election, if required,” a top official in the EC said. Pointing out that civil expenditure (to conduct voter awareness campaigns, remuneration of polling personnel and election observers) will be a major component, the official said this is expected as the cost of poll-related consumables has steeply increased.

“Nearly ₹100 crore is required for security arrangements. We spent nearly ₹90 crore on police security in 2013,” the official said.

This time, as the EC will introduce Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and has started demonstration of VVPAT and electronic voting machines (EVMs), the expenses will go up. Besides, to clear scepticism about tampering of EVMs, intensified awareness drives will also be held, the official said.

Voter population

Moreover, the voter population has increased from 4.4 crore in 2013 to 4.9 crore this year. The number of polling booths too have gone up from 54,000 to 57,000 and the related expenditure to provide poll consumables and infrastructure will go up considerably.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar declined to talk about the increase in cost. However, he said the cost will definitely be higher this year as there are new components to ensure the polls are transparent and fair.