The Hindu : Poll panel's clean chit to Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2004

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Poll panel's clean chit to Congress

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, FEB. 24 . The Election Commission today said the Congress had not violated the provisions of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) by releasing advertisements in newspapers without indicating the source. It said the law would come into operation only after the election process is set in motion.

The Deputy Election Commissioner, A.N. Jha, was responding to a complaint lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party. He said the law was very clear; hence, there was no question of violation of the provisions of the RPA by the Congress. The BJP alleged on Monday that the Congress Governments in Punjab and Karnataka had issued newspaper advertisements carrying the photograph of the party president, Sonia Gandhi, but without the name of the sponsors.

[Under the RPA, advertisements should carry the name of publisher and printer as well as the number of copies of the advertisements in the case of pamphlets. In respect of newspaper advertisements, they must mention the agency that has issued them.]

Mr. Jha said there was no proposal to raise the ceiling on expenses of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections. The ceiling had been raised only recently through an amendment to the RPA. While it was Rs. 25 lakhs in States with large constituencies, it was Rs. 9 lakhs in others.

The Commission was evolving a mechanism to pass on the financial details of candidates to the Income Tax Department. "Talks are on at different levels and we hope to start the process from the coming Lok Sabha polls," Mr. Jha said.

On the estimated expenditure for the polls, he said it was around Rs. 900 crores in 1999. This year the Commission was yet to work out an estimate.

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