2009 Election : A $3 bn Celebration

India’s National Election Spreads $3 Billion Around – NYTimes.com

Candidates and parties spent $3 billion on everything, including transportation, advertising, celebrity endorsements and cash bribes over the course of the campaign, according to economists and political analysts. In comparison, the last United States presidential campaign cost an estimated $2.4 billion.

The campaign, which will wrap up Saturday with a final tally of the votes, is trickling through the economy and plumping earnings at television stations, advertising agencies, florists, airlines, car companies and gas stations. It is adding to the business for sweets manufacturers, priests and astrologers.

The programs are so extensive that the amount of money spent in India will give a 0.5 percent boost to the country’s gross domestic product for two quarters of this year, says Kotak Securities, a brokerage firm.

Indians are masters of spending and displaying grandeur be it any kind of celebration marriage, diwali, holi or the elections (celebration of democracy). Its a different topic to discuss if the spending is justified or not. Looking at the voter’s turn out 2009 elections were mere celebration for the political parties and candidates not an ideal exemplification of democracy.