New Delhi, April 24
The Election Commission has revised the ceiling on election expenses for parliamentary seats with candidates contesting from Chandigarh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi benefiting the most.
The revised expenditure limit set by the commission is restricted to the Union Territories alone, leaving those contesting from different states to tighten their budget, lest they violate the EC guidelines.
The commission in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officers of states and Union Territories has conveyed the revised expenditure limit so that those candidates who are found spending more than the earlier limit are not unduly penalised.
While the expenditure ceiling for Chandigarh and Delhi have been almost doubled, candidates contesting from other Union Territories would be able to spend a bit more than what had been prescribed earlier.
Candidates contesting from the City Beautiful would now the able to spend Rs 14 lakh, an increase of Rs 6 lakh from the previous limit set by the EC.
Those contesting from Delhi for the seven parliamentary seats would now be able to spend Rs 25 lakh, up from Rs 15 lakh.
Other UTs for which the limit has been increased are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Rs 17 lakh), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Rs 14 lakh), Daman and Diu (Rs 10 lakh), Lakshadweep (Rs 10 lakh) and Pondicherry (Rs 20 lakh).
However, the expenditure limit for the states has not been revised. Thus, those candidates contesting from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir can spend only Rs 25 lakh.
