Medha Patkar complains to EC on rivals' overspending

Social activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Medha Patkar urged the  Election Commission to take a “strong action: against her rival candidates in North East Mumbai constituency for spending beyond the limit”.

Patkar said after a complaint filed on her behalf, the Returning Officer has instructed the BJP candidate Kirit Somaiya to add Rs 2,25,979 and the NCP candidate Sanjay Dina Patil to add Rs 8,10,000 to the candidate’s election expenses account.

“We have also filed a complaint on the huge money spent by the BJP on hoardings within the North East Mumbai constituency and the suppression of actual expenditure incurred there in. Somaiya himself has 8 hoardings for his own candidature which would amount to expenses worth tens of lakhs of rupees. The RO is yet to take a decision on this. Any expenditure above the permitted limit can lead to disqualification of the candidate,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

She has also raised the issue of using newspapers for campaigning during the period in which it is legally prevented.

“While section 126 of Representation of Peoples Act prevents candidates from carrying on any campaigning 48 hours before the close of poll, it is ironic that the major parties spend crores of Rupees on front page advertisements even on the day of poll,” she said.