Following the recommendations of the Election Commission, the Ministry of Law and Justice on Thursday revised the maximum expenditure limit from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for a candidate in Assembly polls and Rs 70 lakh to Rs 95 lakh for Lok Sabha polls.
For Puducherry, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, the maximum expenditure limit for Assembly elections has been revised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh and from Rs 54 lakh to Rs 75 lakh for Lok Sabha elections. The expenditure limit is the amount an election candidate can legally spend for his election campaign.
The new expenditure limits for assembly polls, revised in view of the rise in cost inflation index and the size of the electorate, will be applicable to the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur.
The poll expenditures are mainly expenses towards use of vehicles in the campaign, campaigning equipment, election rallies, electronic and print media, banners, pamphlets and field visits. Social media and publicity are becoming the biggest areas of expenditure.
The poll panel had set up a committee under its Director General Umesh Sinha and ex Indian Revenue Service officer Harish Kumar in 2020 to examine the existing expenditure limits for election candidates in view of the increase in number of electors and rise in Cost Inflation Index, among other factors. “
“Having regard to demand from political parties to raise existing election expenditure limit for candidates and increase in electors from 2014 to 2021 from 834 million to 936 million (up by 12.23 %) and rise in Cost Inflation Index from 2014-15 to 2021-22 from 240 to 317 (up by 32.08%), the Committee furnished its recommendations to enhance the ceiling limit. The Commission has accepted the recommendations of the Committee and has decided to enhancethe existing election expenditure limit for candidates,” the EC said.