Crores turn lakhs for poll bill

Hyderabad, April 30: Though most Lok Sabha candidates of the state spent crores of rupees for their poll campaigns, all of them claimed to have limited their expenses to around Rs 10 lakh each in the statements submitted to the Election Commission.

As per the expenditure statements, most LS candidates have been so modest and frugal that their expenses came nowhere near the Rs 25 lakh limit set by the EC.
Only the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and party secretary-general Ms Vijayashanti, showed expenditure of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 19 lakh respectively.
Similarly, candidates who contested from Assembly constituencies showed expenses of less than Rs 5 lakh though the ceiling was Rs 10 lakh. The Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi claimed to have spent only a pitiable Rs 4.85 lakh in Palacole.
In actuality, electioneering was highly expensive in Lok Sabha segments such as Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Narsaraopet, Guntur, Nellore, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Bhongir and Nalgonda.
Candidates also splurged money in more than 100 Assembly constituencies including Kakinada urban, Guntur West, Vinukonda, Ongole, Tirupati, Anaparthi and Vijayawada East.
Mr Allu Arvind, the second in command of Praja Rajyam, showed expenditure of Rs 10.85 lakh, while his rival Mr N. Surya Prakasa Rao of Telugu Desam submitted bills for Rs 8.29 lakh.
Amidst rumours that a minimum of Rs 50 crore was spent by the mainstream candidates in Visakhapatnam, the TD candidate, Mr M.V.S. Murthy, submitted accounts for Rs 7.14 lakh and his rival and union minister, Mrs D. Purandareswari, claimed to have incurred an expenditure of only Rs 6.32 lakh. In Kakinada Lok Sabha seat, the Praja Rajyam and Congress contestants were believed to have spent not less than Rs 3 crore each but the records say that Mr Sunil Kumar of Praja Rajyam spent Rs 10.43 lakh and Union Minister Mr M.M. Pallam Raju, incurred expenses of Rs 4. 7 lakh. The TD Parliamentary Party leader, Mr K. Yerrannaidu, submitted details for Rs 7.77 lakh while the ministers, Mr D. Prasada Rao and Mr K. Ramakrishna, claimed to have spent only Rs 1.58 lakh and Rs 1.61 lakh respectively.