The Media Monitoring Committee in East Godavari district has sent shock waves among a few contestants by including ₹19.68 lakh towards expenditure incurred for “paid news.”
After scrutinizing about 16,851 clippings, including 15,000 in newspapers, the committee classified 34 from the print media and 32 from the electronic media as “paid news.” It put the total cost at ₹19,68,506.
“It is being done as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India. These expenses will be added to the individual election expenses of the candidates concerned,” said Kartikeya Misra, district Collector and Returning Officer.
It is learnt that the candidates who received notices have asked their PR managers to minimise the coverage.