The Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has asked the Election Commission to deploy additional expenditure observers in at least 32 Assembly segments forming part of 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the forthcoming elections as they have been identified as expenditure sensitive.
The additional observers are over and above the expenditure observers deployed in all the 17 Lok Sabha seats that are going to polls. Interestingly, Peddapalli Lok Sabha constituency has the highest number of five of the seven expenditure sensitive segments while the remaining nine constituencies — Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Nalgonda, Warangal (SC) and Khammam — had three segments identified as expenditure sensitive.
According to the compendium of instructions released by the EC, there are two categories of election expenditure, the first being the expenditure connected with campaigning, public meetings, rallies, posters and banners, among other things, which is permitted under the law. The second category, however, involves things which are illegal. These include distribution of money, liquor or any other item disbursed and given to electors with the intent to influence them. This expenditure comes under the definition of bribery which is an offence under the IPC and the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. “As far as the second category of expenditure including surrogate advertisements, paid news and other things, it is obvious that it will never be reported by the political parties/candidates,” the EC says in the instruction booklet.
In a letter addressed to the Election Commission, the CEO’s office said Bellampalli, Ramagundam, Mancherial, Manthani and Peddapalli under the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat, Karimnagar Town, Sircilla — represented by TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao — and Huzurabad (Karimnagar LS), Bodhan, Nizamabad (Urban) and Jagtial (Nizamabad LS), Kukatpalli, Medchal and Uppal (Malkajgiri LS), Musheerabad, Amberpet and Khairatabad (Secunderabad LS), Malakpet, Goshamahal and Chandrayangutta (Hyderabad LS), Chevella, Rajenderanagar and Serilingampalli (Chevella LS), Nalgonda, Miryalaguda and Kodad (Nalgonda LS), Warangal Urban, Warangal East and Bhupalpalli (Warangal LS) and Khammam, Palair and Kothagudem (Khammam LS) had been identified as expenditure sensitive segments and there was a need for deploying additional expenditure observers to effectively monitor these segments.