₹81 Lakh to The Indian Express? A Real ECI Document, A False Narrative
A viral screenshot claims Congress paid ₹81 lakh to The Indian Express. OBC traced the document to the ECI—and found a very different story.
The Indian Express reportage on the internal rift within the Election Commission of India (ECI) has drawn criticism and scrutiny from right-wing channels. Across social media networks, right-wing handles have launched numerous posts targeting the motives of the newspaper.
Several social media accounts widely shared a screenshot alleging that on 28 September, The Indian Express received funds from the Indian National Congress (INC) during the elections in Karnataka, West Bengal and Kerala.
We identified that the viral screenshot is misleading.
The viral screenshot
On 29 September, the X (formerly Twitter) account @Banglar_Tintin shared a viral screenshot alleging that the Congress paid a large sum to The Indian Express during the 2026 elections in West Bengal and Kerala. The post was captioned, ‘🚨BIG REVEAL!!
Indian National Congress @INCIndia paid INR 81.45 Lakhs to Indian Express @IndianExpress during West Bengal Elections. The same Indian Express that tried a hit job on CEC Gyanesh Kumar lately.🙏🏼✌🏼.’
The post has attracted over 18k views and 1.2k likes on the platform.
The same claim has also been shared and circulated on various Instagram and Facebook pages. Facebook user Arunil Goon posted the same video with the same caption.
The post has amassed over 654 likes and 132 comments.
Is it illegal funding by the Congress? We verified it.
We analysed the viral post and conducted a deep-dive search. No official records or credible news reports have verified the claim that the Indian National Congress paid The Indian Express or Express Company.
We conducted a reverse image search of the viral screenshot. This led us to the Election Commission’s official page.
The site opens to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) 2025–26 expenditure reports, which include political parties’ election expenditure statements. This expenditure statement document contains a section called Schedule 23(B). It is a specific disclosure sheet located in the Statement of Election Expenditure issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI). It is used by a political party to report expenses incurred in publishing its candidates’ criminal records ahead of elections. Expenses incurred/authorised for publishing criminal antecedents by the political party’s central headquarters are required to be disclosed under Schedule 23(A), while expenses from local units are to be added under Schedule 23(B).
The mandate requiring candidates and parties to advertise criminal antecedents stems from the Supreme Court of India’s landmark judgment in Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India (September 25, 2018).
Schedule 23(B) allows political parties to advertise such information in newspapers, on television, and on their websites. The schedule records details such as the newspaper or television channel, the dates of publication or telecast, the expenditure incurred, and the mode of payment. It serves as a public-interest informational advertisement. For example, the total recorded expenditure of BJP under Schedule 23(B) in West Bengal amounts to ₹2,50,76,618.
Thus, the viral screenshot is a compilation of election expenditure statements filed by Congress from Kerala and West Bengal.
Similarly, the post claiming that the INC provided funds to The Indian Express in Karnataka also cites Schedule 23(B), which is the party’s Karnataka election expenditure statement.
OBC’s analysis shows the viral claim is misleading and misrepresents the election expenditure records. The viral screenshot is not evidence of an illicit payment by the INC to the Indian Express. It is the expenditure statements from Kerala and West Bengal for the 2026 General Elections, as well as documents from the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.
