Rs4 lakh limit to contest Bhosari by-elections

The state election commission has issued a circular allowing candidates contesting the by-poll in Bhosari gaonthan ward of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to spend a maximum amount of Rs4 lakh on their poll campaigns. The circular makes it mandatory for the candidates to submit a daily report of expenditure.
According to civic officials, cases will be filed against those failing to submit the report. Shradha Lande of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sarika Kotwal from Shiv Sena, Veena Sonvalkar from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Independent candidate Sujata Londhe had filed nominations for Bhosari by-poll. Sonvalkar withdrew her nomination on Friday. She has now supported Kotwal, said the BJP city unit president Eknath Pawar. Friday was last day to withdrawn the nominations.
The by-poll was declared after the Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by NCP corporator Seema Phuge against order disqualifying her for using fake caste certificate and imposing fine of Rs25,000 on her. Phuge was disqualified by the municipal commissioner Dr Shrikar Pardeshi on instructions by the state election commission. She was elected from Bhosari gaothan (ward number 35 A), which was reserved for women from Other Backward Class (OBC) category, in the elections held on February 16. The Haveli tehsil sub-divisional officer had informed the Pune resident deputy collector (RDC) that the authority did not issue OBC certificate to the corporator.
The voters’ list for the by-poll has been published on the PCMC website. As the civic poll was conducted a year ago, new voters’ list was prepared for ward 35 A.