How much a party can spend in an election
The electoral law permits the ruling Awami League and opposition Jatiya Party to spend up to Tk 4.5 crore each as campaign expenditure for the January 7 polls.
According to the Representation of the People Order, 1972, a party that has fielded more than two hundred candidates can spend up to Tk 4.5 crore.
Jatiya Party fielded the highest 265 candidates while Awami League fielded 263, EC sources said.
The Election Commission caps campaign spending for a party in line with the RPO, said EC additional secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath.
"Parties are already aware about it", he said.
Besides a party's expenditure, the EC allows each candidate to spend up to Tk 25 lakh for electioneering.
Several EC officials said the objective of setting expenditure caps is to prevent the spending of undisclosed money ahead of polls.
However, they admitted that EC does not have any effective means to check whether the parties are abiding by the law and spending within their limits in the campaign.
Asked, Ashok said, "I am not in a position to make any comments regarding the matter".
A total of 1895 candidates from 27 parties and independents are participating in the January 7 national polls.
According to the RPO, parties that have fielded more than one hundred candidates but not more than two hundred can spend Tk 3 crore.
Trinamool BNP and National People's Party will be able to spend up to Tk 3 crore. The parties have fielded 133 and 122 candidates respectively.
Parties that have fielded more than 50 candidates but less than 100 are allowed to spend up to Tk 1.5 crore.
Bangladesh Congress has fielded 95 candidates, Bangladesh Supreme Party 79 candidates, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal fielded 64, Bangladesh Sangiskritik Muktijote fielded 63 and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement fielded 54 candidates making them eligible in the slot.
The rest of the 18 parties have fielded less than 50 candidates. According to the RPO, they can spend taka seventy-five lakh each.
According to the law, these parties will have to submit the expenditure statement to the EC within 90 days of the election.
In 2018, Awami League informed the EC that their expenditure for the polls was Tk 1.05 crore. In that election, the party fielded 261 candidates. BNP, which fielded 256 candidates, spent Tk 1.11 crore and Jatiya Party's expenditure was 4.52 lakh for 178 participants.
During that election, Islami Andolan Bangladesh's expenditure was the highest -- Tk 2.14 crore for 298 candidates.
Seven political parties Liberal Democratic Party, Biklapadhara Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Gonforum, Jatiya Ganotantrik Party and Bangladesh Sangiskritik Muktijote informed the EC that they did not have any party wise expenditure for the 2018 polls.
Seventeen political parties, including the major opposition BNP and its allies, are boycotting next year's polls, saying that a free and fair election is not possible under the current government.