The Election Commission has rejected a complaint filed by the Congress that Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri had violated the Model Code of Conduct by publishing advertisements, saying all expenditure incurred in this regard will not be counted from his account.
In the complaint, State Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar had alleged that Mr. Khanduri has published advertisements worth lakhs of rupees in national and local dailies which carried his photograph and a slogan Khanduri hai zaroori despite the fact that he himself is contesting the Assembly election from Kotdwar as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.
In this regard, Mr. Kumar had pointed out that the EC has fixed a limit of Rs. 11 lakh on expenses by a candidate and claimed that Mr. Khanduri has already spent nearly Rs. 1 crore on such advertisements.
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The Congress had said if the expenditure on election rallies being held by star campaigners of the Congress is being included in the expenses made by its party candidates, then the EC should take action in this matter also.
“Since Khanduri is a star campaigner of the BJP, the EC has clarified that all the money spent on advertisements of the ruling party will not be included in his individual expenses, Deputy Electoral Officer Saujanya said, adding these would be accounted to the party.