EC prepares rate charts of campaign items to keep tab on expenditure

During the election,expenditure observers and assistant expenditure observers maintain a shadow register for each candidate and note down his daily expenditure,as observed by them. They will calculate the cost of the items used by candidate according to rate list drawn up by DEOs.

They are also supposed to inspect the expenditure registers maintained by the candidates at least three times during the campaign. In case of any evidence of suppression or understatement of expenses in the candidate’s register,or a major discrepancy with shadow registers,the expenditure observer will refer the matter to the returning officer (RO),who will issue notice to the candidate the same day to explain it.

Later,each candidate will have to submit details of his total election expenses within 30 days of declaration of results. The Election Commission will then tally the expenditure shown by the candidate and estimates made by the expenditure monitoring team on the basis of their observations and the rate lists. The list includes rates for items like loudspeakers,tents,banners,flags,hand bills,posters,hoardings,cut-outs,video and audio cassettes,charges of hiring vehicles,hotel rooms,furniture and food items.

For example,in Lucknow,Rs 9 per sq feet will be the charge for flex banner printing,Rs 20 per sq feet for flex banner mounted on iron frame,Rs 17 per sq feet flex banner on wooden frame,Rs 37 for super quality flex on wooden frame; Rs 300 for 5,000 pieces of single colour hand bill of size 18”x22’’ of specified paper quality.

Rates for flags vary from Rs 3 to Rs 160 per piece depending on size. Rates have also been fixed for badges (plastic or metallic),caps,stoles of different materials,T-shirts (Rs 125 per piece),Rs 800 for 1,000 pieces of computer generated voters slips. For refreshments,it is Rs 3 per for a cup of tea,Rs 10 per cup of coffee,Rs 4 for single piece of samosa and Rs 55 for a complete meal.

Expenditure on each Innova car would be calculated at Rs 3,000 per day,including fuel,Rs 2,200 for Tavera,Rs 2,000 for Indigo,Rs 1,300 for Indica and Rs 1,600 for Bolero. Hiring charges for rickshaws would be Rs 400 per day (with speaker mike) and Rs 200 (without speaker mike). Expenditure on motorcycles would be calculated at rate of Rs 150 per day. Rate of chairs would be Rs 6 each. It will be Rs 22 for tables,Rs 1,000 for a power generator and Rs 1,100 for the sound system.

Nothing seems to have been left out. Explained Ramesh Chandra Rai,nodal officer for election expenditure in the UP Chief Electoral Office,“In the past elections,it was noticed that different candidates quoted different rates for same items in their election expense details and there was wide variation. It created confusion for the election staff and the candidates complained that their rivals had made huge expenditure but had hidden it. Verification was difficult. Therefore,standard rate charts have been prepared’’.

But candidates have their complaints. Anil Tiwari,BJP candidate in Bikapur,said the rates the district administration had fixed were higher than he was actually paying. “Also,fixing rates for items like chairs and tables is unjustified as mostly supporters and friends make these available to me free of cost,’’ he said.

His Rashtriya Lok Dal rival Munna Singh Chauhan said he now does not pay for tea and refreshments for party workers engaged in his campaign. “The new EC rules will be helpful for candidates who do not have money power,” he added.

“Controlling money power in elections” was precisely the purpose of the rules,said UP Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha.