Candidates can now spent more for contesting polls

Before assembly elections in five states and by-elections for some Lok Sabha seats, the government on Thursday increased the limit of the money a candidate can spend on his or her elections.

Before assembly elections in five states and by-elections for some Lok Sabha seats, the government on Thursday increased the limit of the money a candidate can spend on his or her elections.

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For bigger Lok Sabha constituency, a candidate will be allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 40 lakh, increased from the present expenditure limit of Rs 25 lakh.

In case of Lok Sabha seats in smaller states such as Goa and northeast, the limit will range between Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh. The expenditure limit for a constituency depends on the number of voters and total area of the constituency.

For assembly elections, the government has increased the expenditure limit for each candidate from the present Rs 10 lakh to Rs 16 lakh. The limit for smaller states will be less.

The Law ministry issued a notification on basis of a recommendation from the Election Commission on Thursday. Leaders of various political parties had urged the commission to increase the limit considering the jump in the cost of contesting elections.

The commission also felt that the expenditure limit should be increased, as it was re-defining rules for the candidates to report the expenditure and having an institutional mechanism to enforce the new rules.

Money matters

Politicians can now officially spend more money on elections. The limit for LS polls:

Rs27 lakh for Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh

Rs22 lakh for Goa

Rs35 lakh for Manipur and Meghalaya

Rs32 lakh for Mizoram

Rs40 lakh for Delhi