Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said the travel expenditure of leaders of political parties would not be included in the election expenditure of the candidates only if it was communicated to the Election Commission within 10 days from the date of notification of the election.
The notification for the Assembly election and Lok Sabha byelection from Kanniyakumari will be issued on March 12, he said in a statement.
“According to the provisions of Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the expenditure incurred by leaders of political parties on account of travel by air or any other means of transport for propagating programme of the political party is not deemed to be expenditure incurred or authorised by the candidate or his agent,” according to the statement.
The benefit will be available if and only if the names of the leaders (maximum of 15 in the case of unrecognised political party and 30 for recognised political party) were communicated to the Election Commission and to the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, within 10 days from the date of notification of the election. The list of leaders for whom the parties desire to get exemption should be communicated to the Election Commission or Chief Electoral Officer on or before March 22, the statement said.
Apart from the travel expenses incurred by leaders whose names have been communicated to the Election Commission/Chief Electoral Officer, all other expenses of the parties relating to the campaign will be required to be included in the account of election expenses of the candidates concerned. Also, travel by a star campaigner for canvassing for candidates of other parties were not exempt, it added.
In another statement, he said certain categories of persons such as loco pilots, assistant loco pilots, guards, travelling ticket examiners, mediapersons authorized by the EC, could vote through postal ballot as absentee voters in the essential service category.
