State poll body sets ₹8 lakh spending limit per ward for MCD elections

New Delhi In preparation for the upcoming municipal elections, the state election commission (SEC) has made the appointments of election expenditure observers, who will be tasked with keeping an eye on the election expenditures of the candidates vying for councillor position in 250 municipal wards

New Delhi In preparation for the upcoming municipal elections, the state election commission (SEC) has made the appointments of election expenditure observers, who will be tasked with keeping an eye on the election expenditures of the candidates vying for councillor position in 250 municipal wards. A senior SEC official said that the expenditure limit for each candidate will be capped at maximum of ₹8 lakh.

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An order issued by state election commissioner Dr Vijay Dev dated November 2 states: “In pursuance of the power conferred upon me under section 7 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957, state election commissioner hereby, in consultation with Delhi government, appoints the officers of government of Delhi as expenditure observers for the wards of MCD in connection with ensuing general elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.”

“We have released the list of 68 election expenditure observers who will monitor the expenses of candidates. Each of these observers will look after the 3-6 wards located in that assembly section. Most of these observers are accounts officers, controllers of accounts, finance department officers from Delhi government,” the SEC official said.

In the last MCD elections held in the 2017, each candidate had an expenditure limit capped at ₹5.75 lakh.

A government official said that the expenditure limit was increased to ₹8 lakh in March this year in anticipation of civic polls which were scheduled to be held in April. The elections were later delayed as the Central government announced its intentions to unify the three erstwhile municipal corporations of Delhi. “The expenditure limit is raised periodically based on inflation,” the official said.

The SEC official quoted above said prospective candidates contesting the elections are expected to maintain the details of all the election related expenditures in official register while they are also expected to submit the details of their bank accounts used in the election period which are monitored by these expenditure observers.