Parties ask candidates to submit election expenses

With the deadline for submitting details of campaign expenditure ending on Monday (January 12), political parties say they have ensured that their nominees furnish the required details on time.

All candidates are required to submit the details within 30 days of the announcement of results which were declared on December 13.

District leaders of major political parties said they have already alerted the candidates who contested on their tickets and the local units concerned about the deadline. They said most of the candidates have already furnished the details.

District Congress Committee (DCC) president Muhammed Shiyas said his party had already instructed all of its candidates to submit the details without delay. “Almost everyone has already filed the details,” Mr. Shiyas said.

“The matter was communicated to the party units in all areas. The local leaderships were instructed to take the initiative to prompt candidates to furnish the details without delay. It will be followed up duly, and required steps will be taken if anyone fails to keep to the deadline,” CPI(M) district secretary S. Sathish said.

BJP district president (Ernakulam city) K.S. Shyju said the party will be making a reminder call to all of its candidates from its call centre at the district office. Candidates are required to submit the details to the secretaries of the respective local bodies. The details have to be furnished in Form N 30, which is meant for keeping account of election expenditure.

Details such as date, amount and nature of an expense, along with the name and address of those who received the amount, have to be entered in the form. The form should also carry the numbers of bills and vouchers.

Amounts that do not match the market tariffs fixed by the Election Commission will be rejected.

Candidates who fail to furnish details of their election expenditure can be disqualified for a period of five years. For candidates in the grama panchayats, the ceiling was fixed at ₹25,000. In the blocks and municipalities, a candidate was allowed to spend up to ₹75,000. The permissible limit in corporations and district panchayats was ₹1.5 lakh.