Of Rs 85 crore spent on campaign, Jagan's YSRCP paid Rs 37 cr to I-PAC for consultancy

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said that it spent a total of Rs 77 crore out of which Rs 49 crore went in advertisements in the media.
Of Rs 85 crore spent on campaign, Jagan's YSRCP paid Rs 37 cr to I-PAC for consultancy
Of Rs 85 crore spent on campaign, Jagan's YSRCP paid Rs 37 cr to I-PAC for consultancy
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The ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh paid Rs 37.57 crore (37,57,68,966) to political consultancy Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), founded by Prashant Kishor, as part of services extended for the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections held in the state earlier this year.

The party revealed this, in an 'Election Expenditure Statement' that it filed with the Election Commission. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had swept to power earlier this year, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Legislative Assembly and 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh.

I-PAC was instrumental in ensuring his victory, and had also worked with the YSRCP on the 'Praja Sankalpa Yatra', a 3,648 km-long walkathon that Jagan undertook in span of more than a year, covering all districts in the state. 

The 'Election Expenditure Statement' filed by the YSRCP also showed that on the date of the announcement of the election, the party had a bank balance of Rs 74,32,449 (74 lakh). By the time the elections were completed, the party had received a staggering Rs 221 crore (221,58,52,225) in the form of donations.

Out of this, it spent Rs 85 crore (85,65,18,694), which included Rs 9.72 crore (9,72,21,777) on star campaigners and Rs 36 crore (36,44,34,267) for advertisements in the media.

Coincidentally, most of the money spent on advertisements, around Rs 24 crore (24,67,34,007), was given to Jagathi publications, which is run by Jagan Mohan Reddy's family.

Another 1.03 crore (1,03,21,544) was spent on publicity materials including posters, banners, badges, stickers, arches, cut outs, hoardings, flags etc.

After its expenditure, the YSRCP said that it had a bank balance of Rs 138 crore (138,58,28,365). 

In its 'Annual Audit Report for the Financial Year 2018-19', which was also filed with the Election Commission last month, the YSRCP said that it had received a total of Rs 181 crore (181,07,92,658) through donations and contributions. The major chunk of money, around Rs 99 crore (99,84,00,000), came through electoral bonds.

The YSRCP said that it received Rs 36.08 crore (36,08,18,258) as donations from non-corporate entities, compared to Rs 11.7 crore (11,70,46,137) in the previous financial year. Corporate entities donated Rs 18 crore (18,15,74,400) compared to Rs 2.53 crore (2,53,00,000) last year.

Meanwhile,  the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which also filed its election expenditure report, said that it spent a total of Rs 77 crore (77,74,82,021) out of which Rs 49 crore (49,41,60,232) went in advertisements in the media.     

When the election was completed, the TDP had a total balance of Rs 155 crore (155,83,20,024).

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