Bihar Assembly Election | Centre raises poll expenses limit in view of Covid-19

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has raised the limit of poll expenses ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar in view of the pandemic.

The Union government accepted the recommendation of the Election Commission for a 10% hike in the limits of poll expenses by the candidates for both Assembly and parliamentary constituencies across the country.

Read | Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: Full schedule

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice issued the notification on Monday, raising the limit of poll expenses for Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and most of the other states from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 77 lakh and every parliamentary constituency from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 30.8 lakh.

The EC will hold polling in 243 Assembly constituencies in Bihar in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7. The poll panel will also hold byelections to fill up 56 vacancies in the Legislative Assemblies in 10 states on November 3 and 7 next. The 54 constituencies, where byelections will be held on November 3 include two in Karnataka–Sira and Raja Rajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar)–and 28 in Madhya Pradesh.

The bypolls to fill two vacancies in the Legislative Assembly of Manipur will be held on November 7. The EC also decided to hold a byelection in Valmiki Nagar parliamentary constituency in Bihar to fill up a vacancy in the Lok Sabha on November 7.

The expense limits for Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have been raised from Rs 54 lakh to Rs 59.40 lakh for every parliamentary constituency and from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 22 lakh for every Assembly constituency.

The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a gazette notification on Monday, amending the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to raise the poll expense limits.

The EC recommended the hikes as the candidates would have to incur additional cost to adhere to the guidelines issued to maintain social distancing norms and other Covid-19 protection measures during electioneering, including for holding a larger number of rallies with attendance of the limited number of voters.