Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, who was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the North Goa parliamentary seat, spent a modest amount of Rs 31 lakh during the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. This amount also happens to be the highest spent by any candidate in the fray for the seat.
Panaji MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, who was the Congress party candidate for the bypolls to the Panaji assembly constituency, incurred the highest expenditure, spending over Rs 14 lakh, among all the candidates contesting the bypolls to the three assembly segments of Mandrem, Panaji and Mapusa in North Goa district.
The expenditure includes the expenses in public rallies, processions and campaign materials used in meetings. It also includes campaign through print and electronic media including cable network, bulk SMS, internet and social media.  
The limit for the parliamentary constituencies mandated by the Election Commission of India was Rs 54 lakh while for the bypolls to the assembly constituencies the limit was Rs 20 lakh for the state.
In the North Goa parliamentary seat, BJP’s Shripad Naik spent Rs 31,17,806 and his nearest rival Congress party’s Girish Chodankar incurred an expenditure of Rs 22,86,954 as per the report submitted to the District Election Officer. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Dattatraya Padgaonkar spent Rs 4,21,592.
For the bypoll to Panaji, Atanasio Monserrate of Congress topped the list with Rs 14,35,408 while BJP’s Sidharth Kunkalienkar was at the second position with Rs 12,23,683. Goa Suraksha Manch candidate Subhash Velingkar incurred an expenditure of Rs 4,60,866, while AAP’s Valmiki Naik spent Rs 2,15,546.
In the Mandrem bypoll, BJP candidate Dayanand Sopte incurred the highest expenditure with an amount of Rs 8,39,852, while the lone independent candidate Jit Arolkar spent the second highest with Rs 4,01,478. Congress party’s Babi Bagkar spent a total of Rs 3,26,599.
In Mapusa, BJP candidate Joshua D’Souza topped the list with Rs 7,30,769, while independent candidate Ashish Shirodkar incurred an expenditure of Rs 5,47,955. Congress party’s Sudhir Kandolkar spent Rs 4,43,211.