Hyderabad, April 13: Poll candidates are remembering the names of their relatives and acquaintances. Not to get them to vote, but to beat the expenditure limit set by the Election Commission.
The daily expenses of party activists is pinned on the candidate. For example, the EC lists Rs 25 as breakfast charge and Rs 35 for lunch for each activist.
Each candidate takes 100-150 people with him daily. The cost works out to about Rs 10,000. For the campaign, it would be Rs 3 lakh.
“We are trying to avoid the charge by showing it as a friendly gesture from our relatives and friends in that colony,” said a candidate from Khairatabad. Of course, the candidates pay the friends and relatives in advance, and the EC is none the wiser.
A candidate is allowed the use of less than 10 vehicles. The rent per vehicle is Rs 2,000 to 4,000, apart from fuel and driver charges. To beat this, the candidates claim their kith and kin are following them. The EC has no restriction on this.
The Election Commission insists that candidates clear all their banners and posters. If he doesn’t, the municipality slaps a cleaning charge at Rs 5 per per banner and Rs 200 per hoarding.
Result: Candidates are now pleading with activists to clear the flags and banners.
With the total expenditure limit of Rs 15 lakh for an Assembly segment and Rs 25 lakh for a Lok Sabha seat, the candidates of all political parties are making every penny count.
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