The Election Commission has decided to add the expenses incurred by the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) star campaigners to the expenditure account of its Nandyal bypoll candidate Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy, introducing an element of uncertainty to the outcome.
A candidate’s expenditure limit in an Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh is Rs 28 lakh. According to Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, the expenses incurred by leaders of a party during the campaign are not deemed to be the candidate’s expenditure as long as the party submits its list of star campaigners within a week of the poll notification.
In case Brahmananda Reddy wins the bypoll but his expenditure exceeds Rs 28 lakh, the victory can be challenged through an election petition and the court could set it aside. The TDP’s list of star campaigners for the bypoll, which included state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Balakrishna, the son of party founder NT Rama Rao, was received by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal almost two weeks after the bypoll was notified.
According to sources in the CEO’s office, Lal sought the headquarters’ advice on the late application, but an EC official “inadvertently” uploaded the list of star campaigners on its website, sources said. The TDP and Brahmananda Reddy understood this to be the commission’s approval.
Once the mistake was highlighted by the state CEO, the EC took the list off its website. Nirvachan Sadan informed Lal that the benefits under Section 77 will not be extended to Brahmananda Reddy as he had failed to furnish the list of star campaigners on time. The EC decided to add the expenses incurred by Naidu and Balakrishna to Reddy’s account.
When contacted for comment on Friday, Reddy told The Indian Express he had no information about the EC’s decision. “Our list (of star campaigners) was approved by the EC. I will have to check with the party about what you are saying,” he said. Lal did not respond to this reporter’s calls.
The Nandyal bypoll was necessitated after MLA Bhuma Nagi Reddy died of a heart attack on March 12. Nagi Reddy was elected on a YSR Congress ticket in 2014 but switched to the TDP in February 2016. The TDP had fielded Brahmananda Reddy (32), who is Nagi Reddy’s nephew, while the YSR Congress has fielded TDP rebel Silpa Chandra Mohan Reddy. The counting of votes will be held on Monday.
The election campaign in the run-up to the bypoll was a bitter one. The EC ordered an FIR against Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the YSR Congress chief, for his comments on Naidu. On August 3, he had said “there is nothing wrong if Chandrababu Naidu is shot dead on the road for not fulfilling election promises”.
