CUDDALORE:
The Election Commission has issued certain guidelines to be followed by the returning officers on how to calculate the expenditure incurred on the mode of transport, public rally and propaganda materials during the visit of star campaigners (top leaders of political parties), according to P.Seetharaman, District Election Officer and Collector.
In a statement issued here, Mr. Seetharaman said that as per Section 77 of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, the expenditure incurred by leaders of a political party on account of travel by air or by any other means shall not be deemed to be poll expenditure of a candidate.
A recognised political party could give a list of 40 persons and a registered but unrecognised party a list of 20 persons to the Chief Electoral Officer and the Election Commission of India within seven days of the notification of the elections, and such political leaders would be known as star campaigners. In the event of a public rally or meeting, if the candidate or his/her election agent shares the dais with the star campaigner, then the entire expenditure on that rally, other than the travel expenses of the star campaigner, should be added to the candidate's expenses.
If the candidate is not present on the dais but banners and posters with the name of the candidate or the photographs of the candidate are displayed at the venue or the name of the candidate mentioned by the star campaigner, then the entire expenditure on the rally, other than travel expenses of the star campaigner, would be added to the candidate's election expenses. If there is more than one candidate sharing the dais or displaying banners or posters with their names at the venue, then the expenses on such a rally should be equally divided among all such candidates.
The Returning Officer (RO) concerned should pass on information about other candidates present in the rally to the respective ROs for making necessary entry of expenditure in the Shadow Observation Register of such candidates. In the view of the Election Commission, one of the major items of election expense is by way of hiring helicopters and aircraft. As per the Commission's instructions, if the star campaigner of a political party has been intimated to the CEO/Commission within seven days of poll notification, then the travel expenses of the star campaigner would not be added to the expenditure of the candidate.
If the candidate or any of his representative or family member or leader of a political party other than the notified star campaigner is sharing the transport facility with the star campaigner, then 50 per cent of the expenditure would be added to the candidate's expenses. If more than one candidate is sharing the facilities then 50 per cent of the travel expenditure should be apportioned among those candidates. If a star campaigner of an allied party attends the rally and takes the name of the candidate or shares the dais with the candidate, then the travel expense of that campaigner of allied party up to the constituency is not exempt and should be added to the candidate's expenses.
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