January 9: Though the Election Commission's (EC) decision to increase the ceiling on the poll expenditure of candidates in the Lok Sabha elections up to Rs 15 lakh brought some relief to major political parties, the figure is still being considered unrealistic by their campaign managers.While the parties termed the earlier limit of Rs 4.5 lakh as ridiculous, they feel that the hike in ceiling too would not help them in any way. The two key players in Andhra Pradesh -- the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as well as the Congress -- are busy chalking out ambitious publicity strategies for the polls which will be ready in the next two weeks.
Though none of their leaders are willing to reveal the publicity budget, they point out that the EC had permitted each party to spend upto Rs six crore in the entire State. "We can show some of it in the name of the party and the rest in the names of candidates," a senior TDP leader said.
The official figures notwithstanding, the amount of money that will be pumped in by a
candidate in an unreserved constituency is likely to be to the tune of Rs one to two crore. While publicity accounts for a fraction of the election expenditure, a lion's share goes towards wooing local leaders.
Both the TDP and Congress are mobilising resources so as to hire 30 to 50 vehicles and utilise the services of at least 500 workers in each Lok Sabha constituency for four weeks till the polling is completed. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties are far behind them on this count.
"Anybody can guess that we cannot stick to the limit whether it is Rs 4.5 lakh or Rs 15 lakh. But the EC's decision will invariably make us cough up more money as the demands from party workers will go up," said a former Congress MP who won from a SC reserved seat in Telangana last time.
According to him, the curbs imposed by former chief election commissioner T N Seshan on extravagant campaign could check the publicity costs to some extent but it led to escalation of hidden expenditure, sometimes
through discreet and unfair methods.
But the EC is determined to implement the standards set during Seshan's tenure this time too. "We will take all steps to see that the EC's guidelines are implemented fully. The expenditure limits will be strictly enforced," Umamaheswar Rao, Joint Electoral Officer told The Indian Express. He made it clear that the EC would not allow cut-outs, hoardings and banners except a few depending on special circumstances. Expenditure incurred by both the candidate and the party would be clubbed for the ceiling purpose. However, State BJP general secretary Venugopal Reddy felt that there were lacunae in the rules as the expenditure incurred by either the candidate or those authorised by him alone was considered for the ceiling.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
