With how much intent the Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had thrown their hats in the Goa election can be gauged from the fact that the party of the woman with her trademark hawai chappals and blue-bordered white sari spent more than the party that Rahul Gandhi accuses of running a "suit boot ki sarkar". The poll expenditure of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress loosened its purse strings, spending a whopping Rs 47.54 crore on its campaign in the small state.
The BJP, which retained power in Goa with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the helm, spent over Rs 17.75 crore towards election expenditure in the state.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP spent nearly Rs 3.5 crore in Goa, where it tried its luck for the second consecutive assembly election.
The information above comes from the details of the election expenditure that the said political parties submitted to the Election Commission recently.
The INC, which was hoping to dislodge the BJP from power in Goa, spent approximately Rs 12 crore on the Goa election.
The NCP gave Rs 25 lakh each to the 11 candidates it had fielded for the elections, besides spending on the campaign from the party’s central fund.
The Shiv Sena, which fielded 10 candidates in the Goa election, spent nearly Rs 92 lakh towards poll expenditure. Eyeing an expansion, the Trinamool Congress had launched an election blitzkrieg in Goa, with poll strategist Prashant Kishor playing a key role in trying to get the party a toehold in the state. The party was accused of bringing people from West Bengal to better its chances at the polls.
The party fielded 23 candidates in the Goa assembly election but drew a blank while its ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party put up candidates in 13 seats and managed to win two.
The AAP fielded 39 candidates and managed to open its account in the state by winning two seats.
The INC had cried foul at the entry of Trinamool Congress and the AAP in the electoral fray in Goa, accusing them of dividing the anti-BJP vote.
The BJP won 20 seats in the 40-member assembly and formed the government with the support of two MGP MLAs and three Independent legislators.
Earlier this month, eight of the 11 Goa Congress MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, defected to the BJP.
— With inputs from PTI
