How much does it cost to deploy an elephant for a Lok Sabha candidate’s election campaign?
It is a question officials did not expect to tackle when they were roped in by the district administration to monitor the money spent by candidates contesting in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on their campaigns.
But given the current flavour and trend in poll campaigns, they will have to tackle these and many other questions ranging from the cost of fireworks and balloons to traditional ‘panchavaadyam’ that are brought into action in the political battle to reach Parliament. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has fixed ₹70 lakh as the limit for expenditure incurred by a candidate on her or his campaign. “It is a question of ensuring a level-playing field so that money does not decide the fate of candidates,” said District Election Officer and Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla on the elaborate exercise of monitoring the money spent by each candidate. “There is a huge system working at the back end to make sure that campaigns are conducted in a fair manner, and the public should rest assured that everything is being done to ensure that,” he added.
The room where these calculations are done on the fifth floor of the collectorate resembles a war room. Officials are huddled over computers, watching videos of election rallies and public meetings, clusters of posters and wall graffiti, election speeches, and rallies that wind their way through villages and towns.
“Everything is counted and accounted for,” said a senior official monitoring the work, pointing to the type of chairs used at a public meeting by a candidate in the Chalakudy constituency. There is a rate fixed for everything imaginable — chairs, both with arm rests and those without arm rests; tables, stage decorations, banners, arches, loudspeakers, amplifiers, cordless mikes, LED bulbs, LCD projectors, pedestal fans, shamianas, flags, cloth banners, handbills, hoardings, graffiti, spotlights, and power generators are among them.
While the cost of such campaign aids are being calculated, there are officials who keep a watch over other aspects of the overall election atmosphere. Each parliamentary constituency comprises several Assembly constituencies. In each Assembly constituency there are three flying squads, three teams for static surveillance, a team for video surveillance, and a video viewing team.
The static surveillance teams operate at checkposts where vehicles may be checked and money or any substance may be seized if not accounted for. The team of videographers visit campaign sites, public meetings, where speeches are recorded for scrutiny.
Candidates and political parties are given a chance to explain their conduct, and meetings are held periodically to verify the expenses for reconciliation of expenditure, said the official.