Bihar Election Funding Exposed! ADR Report 2026 Reveals ₹281 Crore Collected and Major Campaign Spending
Political funding plays a major role in shaping election campaigns across India. From large public rallies to social media advertisements, political parties require considerable financial resources to communicate their messages and organise campaign activities.
Bihar's 2025 Assembly elections provide an important example of the scale of political financing.
In June 2026, the Association for Democratic Reforms published its analysis of funds collected and expenditure incurred by political parties during the Bihar Assembly elections. The report examined financial statements submitted to the Election Commission of India.
Political parties collected ₹281.323 crore
According to the ADR analysis, the 10 political parties examined collectively collected ₹281.323 crore during the Bihar Assembly election period.
Among the parties:
BJP collected ₹195.23 crore.
Congress collected ₹70.058 crore.
RJD collected ₹7.407 crore.
The report also found that BJP recorded the highest expenditure among the analysed parties, followed by JD(U) and Congress.
Where did election campaign money go?
One of the most important aspects of the ADR report is its examination of expenditure categories.
The report identified three major areas of spending:
Expenditure category &Amount
Publicity ₹100.429 crore
Travel expenses ₹79.539 crore
Lump-sum payments to candidates ₹62.072 crore
These figures are reported across the expenditure categories analysed by ADR.
Publicity accounted for approximately 36.68% of the expenditure total of ₹273.804 crore across those categories.
Travel represented approximately 29.05%, while lump-sum candidate payments accounted for approximately 22.67%.
Funding transparency and missing disclosures
Another significant finding concerns the availability of election expenditure statements.
ADR reported that expenditure statements for six participating parties were unavailable on the ECI website when its analysis was prepared.
These included:
The absence of statements from the public website at the time of analysis highlights the importance of timely financial disclosures.
Political donations and accountability
The ADR report also highlights the need to distinguish between funds collected and money actually spent.
For example, the total funds collected by the analysed parties were ₹281.323 crore, while their reported total expenditure was ₹193.466 crore.
Political parties must provide financial information that allows citizens to examine their sources of funding and campaign expenses.
Conclusion
With ₹281.323 crore collected by the 10 analysed parties and substantial expenditure on publicity, travel and candidate payments, the findings highlight the financial scale of modern election campaigns.
Transparent reporting and accessible financial records are essential for maintaining public confidence in India's electoral system.
