Chennai: TVK has shown ₹19.81 crore as its expenses for the 2026 assembly election. In comparison, DMK reported poll expenditure of ₹197.84 crore, and AIADMK ₹112.39 crore.In its filing with Election Commission of India, TVK said ₹3.55 crore was spent on its chief minister candidate C Joseph Vijay’s air travel, and ₹40 lakh in Perambur and Trichy East, the two constituencies Vijay contested in. TVK contested 233 seats and won 108.The expenditure statement, signed by party treasurer P Venkataramanan, showed the party headquarters spent ₹19.4 crore on general election propaganda. It shows zero expenses made by the party on its candidates, implying that the nominees had to bear the expenses of their campaigns.The statement lists four aircraft-related payments (for Vijay’s travel) made between March 14 and April 28 to TAI Jets Pvt Ltd, Chipsan Aviation Pvt Ltd and Fly High Global Aircraft Management Services Pvt Ltd. No expenditure was reported on the travel of other leaders.It shows no spending on virtual campaigning through social media platforms. The largest component of the party’s general propaganda expenditure — ₹6.35 crore — was on media advertising, including print, electronic media and radio. This includes payment of ₹1.79 crore made to (now minister) Aadhav Arjuna’s Voice of Common Strategic Consulting Private Limited. The party spent ₹2.06 crore on public meetings and roadshows, and ₹40.55 lakh on publicity material, listed as “books”. TVK’s expenditure statement said that at the time the election was announced, the party had an opening balance of ₹3.03 crore, while its election-period receipts amounted to ₹7.02 crore. ECI formally recognised TVK as a state party on Sept 10.
