East Singhbhum administration to keep hawk eye on expenditures to be made by contestants

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, March 29 : Spending spree by the contestants this election will be a risky affair this time. The Election Commission of India has allowed Rs 70 lakhs to be spent on poll campaigning by a contestant but a pie more than this is to invite serious consequences.

According to the returning officer, Amit Kumar a flying squad will be set up to keep a hawk eye on the expenditures to be made by the contestants. Apart from this, flying squad other teams are the static surveillance teams, video surveillance team and video viewing team.

If a contestant is a social media creature then his Facebook account details too is to be given by him to the administration. Two observers related to expenditures of the contestants will join Jamshedpur team soon. The two will look after the four Assembly segments falling in the East Sinnghum district which form the Lok Sabha constituency.

An official said that if a contestant who comes to file his nomination at 2.30 in the day but before that he has held or arranged any show of his campaign or publicity then the expenditures made by him on this too are to be accounted as his poll expenses irrespective of the fact as to what time he has filed his nomination.

To a question if a stage show/street corner show is arranged wherein the performers claim they have not taken any money from the contestant but have done this for the sake of understanding or acquaintance with the contestant cost of such a show will come on the head of the contestant no matter what the performers so claim. The cost will be assessed by the team.

The Election Commission of India has tightened noose for any extravaganza by the contestant.  As the ECI has not updated its hand book for the contestants the administration is burning mid night oil to get it ready to be handed over to the contestants  as hand book for contestants remains a kind of Ten Commandments for them.