Election Commission to monitor party expenditure during elections

New Delhi, Sept 12: In what could be a setback for all political parties, The Election Commission (EC) has made it clear that it will be watching every party's expenditure very closely.

This is sure to cut down on the fanfare that the parties have deicded for the upcoming Assembly elections. The EC, in its expenditure manual, has clearly mentioned that a list of the star campaigners will have to be submitted to the chief electoral officer and the EC.

While the travel expenses of star campaigners will not be added to the party expenditure, the travel expenses of campaigners from allied parties are not exempted.

According to the EC's expenditure manual, if a star travels with the candidate, 50 percent of his travel expenditure will be added to the candidate's. If the candidate shares the pandal with the star campaigner or displays the photo or poster with the name in the meeting, the meeting expense will be added to the candidates account.

Limit for each candidate is Rs 14 lakh

Chief electoral officer Vijay Dev has said that some parties have conveyed that the expenses be raised by the EC, for the time being they will follow the manual very strictly.

In addition to this, candidates are expected to open a separate bank account for the receipt and payment of money used during campaigning.

They will have to open a separate account when they file for nominations. As of now each candidate can spend only upto Rs 14 lakh for the election campaign.

OneIndia News