DHNS
Mangalore, May 8: Believe it or not, none of the political parties including Congress, BJP and CPIM in Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency spent more than Rs 16 lakh during the election campaign, even when they were allowed to spend upto Rs 25 lakh as per Election Commission’s rule.
According to a latest statistics available with the 'Deccan Herald', Nalin Kumar Kateel of BJP spent maximum amount for the campaign in the constituency. The total amount spent by Kateel for campaign was Rs 15.74 lakh as on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Third Front candidate B Madhava of CPIM submitted an updated expense statement wherein the total amount he spent for campaign was Rs 11.29 lakh.
As per the expenditure statement filed by independent candidate K Ram Bhat Urimajalu on April 25, the total amount he shelled out by him for campaign was Rs 2.93 lakh. BSP candidate Girish A Rai stated in his expenditure statement filed on April 27 that the total amount he spent for campaign was Rs 87,230.
The credit of spending minimum amount for election campaign goes to independent candidate Mohammed Sali. His statement filed on April 28 shows that he spent only Rs 10,382 for the campaign. Meanwhile, Dr Thirumalaraya Halemane secured the first place among independent candidates by spending Rs 44,715 for campaign.
Surprise is that the Congress had spent very less amount compared to BJP and CPIM.
According to an expense statement filed by Janardhana Poojari on April 27, the total amount spent for campaign by the party was only Rs 2,45,258. When contacted party spokesperson M G Hegde said that an updated statement will be submitted within two days.
However, there are possibilities that the amount showed in the expense statements of candidates may increase little more. Headquarter Assistant to DC Prabhakar Sharma said that a final statistics regarding campaign expenditure will be available only after the counting process.
He said that candidates will have to submit a final statement which should include expenses incurred to parties during counting of votes.