Chhattisgarh polls: Candidates exploring ways to meet spending cap norm

Raipur, November 23

While assembly polls are over in Chhattisgarh, the candidates are now busy in preparing their expenditure report to be submitted to Election Commission (EC) to obtain its green signal that they have not violated any code of conduct by crossing the spending cap or by providing misleading figures. In doing so, several candidates are exploring loopholes to keep their poll expenses within the bracket of given norm.

According to information, the EC has already served notices to two BJP candidates Brijmohan Agrawal and Rajesh Munat and one Congress candidate Vikas Upadhyay for impinging on the code. While Agrawal came under EC radar for spending beyond upper limit of Rs 16 lakh, Munat and Upadhyay have reportedly startled observers with their low poll accounts.

In previous elections, the commission had disqualified more than 250 candidates either for spending inordinately or submitting wrong expenditure figures. Surprisingly, none of the BJP or Congress candidate figured in list of disqualified lot.

In five years, the EC evolved as ruthless monitor for code violators as was evident by strict enforcement of spending limit of candidates in State during recent polls. Knowing that the commission was keeping record of every single penny spent by them, the candidates even refrained from moving with the crowd or convoy for canvassing and rather preferred door-to-door campaign.

Still, many, including ministers and sitting MLAs, adopted novel techniques to distribute gift coupons, cash and other items to voters to counter anti-incumbency factor against them, although they could not escape vigilant eyes of EC’s observers and videographers. Now they are digging out methods to justify in figures that they never went astray and complied with the code.

Besides, there are candidates who were unaware of dos and don’ts of poll expenditure and now they are unable to fill correct detail in their report according to prescribed ceiling.

There were a total of 986 candidates in fray in two rounds of polls. It is learnt that the expenditure observers have zeroed in about 150-200 candidates whose might provide fabricated report. The observers shortlisted these candidates on the basis of their day- to-day poll expense account. According to norm, a candidate has to submit the register, in which he/she maintains poll account, at least three times during the campaign period.

The candidates will have to submit true account of their elections expenses within 30 days from the date of declaration of result of the election. In the computation of this 30-day period, the date of declaration of result of election is excluded.