What they actually spend may be a lot more than what they declare before EC.
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan’s claim of spending just Rs5,379 on newspaper advertisements during the Maharashtra assembly polls may sound hollow, and the opposition BJP has rightly sought a high-level probe. But Chavan may not be the only politician guilty of alleged misappropriation.
Sample this: The total election expenses declared by RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad in his constituency of Saran during the Lok Sabha polls in May was Rs1,46, 492. The Election Commission (EC) guidelines allow a candidate to spend up to Rs25 lakh as election expenditure during Lok Sabha polls.
According to an analysis of election expenditure filed by different candidates, the average election expenditure incurred by 6,753 of the 8,028 candidates (details for the remaining wasn’t available) was less than 50% of the prescribed limit.
Election observers slammed politicians in Andhra Pradesh for doling out crores to voters during their campaign, but according to what they declared to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the average expense incurred per candidate in the state was just Rs3,63, 053! The corresponding figure in Maharashtra was Rs 3,84, 474, Uttar Pradesh Rs 5,76, 989, Tamil Nadu Rs 2,76, 395 and Bihar Rs 4,90, 490!
Former chief election commissioner JM Lyngdoh said, “Going by the average election expenses of candidates during Lok Sabha elections it seems our politicians are very poor people. These expenses should be computed by external competent authorities… otherwise it is meaningless.”
“Candidates have made a mockery of Indian elections and democracy. There is an urgent need to make political parties accountable,” former top cop Julio Rebeiro said.
As per the National Election Watch (NEW) analysis, only four of the 6,753 candidates spent more than the prescribed limit, and all of them lost. These were AUDF’s Jaforullah Mollah from Murshidabad (Rs49 lakh), filmmaker Prakash Jha from Bihar’s Pashchim Champaran on an LJP ticket (Rs45.27 lakh) and SP candidates from Fathepur Sikri and Agra respectively — Raghuraj Shakya (Rs41 lakh) and Ramji Lal Suman (Rs31 lakh).
NEW national coordinator Anil Bairwal says “political parties and their candidates have made a mockery of EC guidelines.” Even six months after the polls, 19% of candidates are yet to file their election expense details. These include 64 of the BSP’s 421 candidates, 13 of BJP’s 361 candidates and seven of the Congress’ 374 candidates. Of the winning candidates, Trinamool Congress’ Kabir Suman (Jadavpur) and MoS for I&B Chaudhary Mohan Jatua (Mathurapur) are yet to file their expenses.
A party-wise analysis of candidates’ expenditure presents an even more “laughable” picture. The average spending by Congress candidates was Rs13.9 lakh, AIADMK Rs11. 03 lakh, BJP Rs12.6 lakh, DMK Rs9.89 lakh, SP Rs9 lakh and BSP Rs6.2 lakh.
However, the average expenditure by winners was Rs14.3 lakh (Congress), Rs15.04 lakh (BJP), Rs14.32 lakh (BSP) and Rs16.31 lakh (SP).
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