EC summons Chavan, Koda

In 2009, Ashok Chavan had contested from Bokhar Assembly seat in Nanded district in Maharshtra. He won the elections. But Madhav Kinhlakar, his political rival, lodged a complaint alleging Chavan misused his powers and indulged in paid news for campaign and did not disclose his actual expenditure.

Chavan dismissed the charge as baseless. He told The Indian Express, “ Since there were two petitions on the same paid news in the court and EC, I had requested the decision should be by court and not by the EC… The developments do not hold me guilty”.

In the second case, Koda was elected as an Independent MP from West Singhbum in Jharkhand in 2009, and in October 2010 the EC issued notice to him asking him as to why he should not be disqualified on the ground that he had shown the election expenses far less than the actual amount of nearly Rs 10 crore allegedly spent by him. The EC said Koda had made an expenditure of about Rs 10 crore during his campaign against the statutory limit of Rs 25 lakh.