LS Polls 2014: 10 Most Interesting Facts about the World's Largest Election

Estimated 30, 000 crore total spending: A whopping 30,000 crore is likely to be spent by the government, political parties and candidates in this ongoing Lok Sabha elections, making it by far the most expensive electoral exercise in Indian history. The projected expenditure to elect the 16th Lok Sabha is set to rival the $7 billion (approximately 42,000 crore) spent by candidates and parties in the 2012 U.S. presidential elections.

A study carried out by Centre for Media Studies on poll spending said, "unaccounted for" money pumped in by "crorepati" candidates, corporate and contractors has pushed up the expenditure to elect 543 MPs. Out of the estimated 30,000 crore, the exchequer will spend 7000 to 8000 crore to hold the electoral exercise for the 16th Lok Sabha.
Centre for Media Studies Chairman N Bhaskara Rao revealed, "Till recently, political parties used to spend more during election. Now, the trend has changed with candidates in most cases spending more than the parties. Now where is this money coming from? It is coming from crorepati candidates, corporates and contractors," reports PTI.

'Others' Gender Option: Nearly two years after the Election Commission introduced 'others' gender option, over 28,000 transgender community members have registered in the electoral poll so far and will be eligible to vote in this election. EC officials said this category was introduced by EC in 2012.

Also Read:
10 Super Rich Candidates Contesting 16th Lok Sabha Election
Political Parties Deploy Social Media to Woo the Voters