Eluru: Register expenditure details of candidates impartially, election staff told

Eluru: District Collector V Prasanna Venkatesh instructed the election expenditure monitoring teams to enter the details of expenditure of the contesting candidates from the date of their filing the nomination without showing any partiality. He was addressing training classes organised for flying squad team, video surveillance team, observation teams, static surveillance, MCC, and media certification monitoring teams here on Monday.

He said that the teams concerned should read the guidelines laid down by the Election Commissiontwo or three times and fully understand the points therein. Along with that, they should also understand the orders and instructions that come from time to time.

They should ensure that there is no room for negligence or mistakes in the performance of duty. GPS will be there for the vehicles to be given to the respective teams. He said that the teams will have to visit all the areas assigned to them.

A candidate contesting for a Legislative Assembly constituency can spend up to Rs 40 lakh, whereas a candidate contesting for a parliamentary constituency is allowed to spend up to Rs 95 lakh.

If the candidate spends more than that, there is a possibility of losing eligibility. Keeping this in mind, the respective teams should inform the candidates about the relevant election expenses from time to time. He said that election expenditure details should be entered from time to time through the Election Commission’s app. Video clippings should also be examined thoroughly. The campaign expenses of the party and candidates conducted through rallies and meetings should be recorded according to the fixed rates.

Joint Collector B Lavanya Veni said that there should be vigilance by the relevant teams to ensure that the guidelines of the Election Commission are properly implemented.

Master trainee Chakrapani explained the duties, responsibilities and guidelines to be followed by the respective teams in detail to the officials through a power point presentation. On the occasion, the officials of Income Tax, Commercial Taxes Department, Treasury, Excise and other departments have provided the relevant details.

DRO Pushpamani, ITDA project officer M Surya Teja, Zilla Parishad CEO K Subbarao, RDO NSK Khajavali, K Addaiah, Bhavani Shankar, district treasurer T Krishna, LDM D Niladri, many police officers and dignitaries

participated.