Mamata flays centre for raising poll campaign expenditure

Kolkata, Feb 28: Condemning the Centre's decision to raise the expenditure limits for the Lok Sabha polls to a maximum of Rs.70 lakh and a minimum of Rs.54 lakh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the move will encourage corruption.

"I am not only surprised but also shocked to see the attitude of the outgoing government on such important policy matter.

It is a long pending demand for state funding for election expenditure as part of electoral reforms. Instead, the central government has decided to increase the poll expenditure limit," Banerjee said on a social networking site.

The decision came on Friday following a proposal by the Election Commission to raise expenditure limits for Lok Sabha elections to a maximum of Rs.70 lakh and a minimum of Rs.54 lakh, allowing candidates to spend more on their poll campaigns.

Observing that the decision will put "poor political parties" at a disadvantage, Banerjee said: "It will help the capitalist and large political parties who have enough money and can always spend crores for their election".

"The decision will clearly encourage more and more corruption and black-money," she added.

IANS