Ministers didnt spend on poll material,workers? EC probe sought

The Bengal unit of Election Watch,an independent poll watchdog body,has urged the Election Commission to probe the cases where many elected MLAs.

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The Bengal unit of Election Watch,an independent poll watchdog body,has urged the Election Commission to probe the cases where many elected MLAs,some of who are now ministers,have declared zero expenses in their poll expenditure.

According to a report released by the body,many legislators,including some prominent ministers,have claimed to have not spent a single penny in different expenditure sub-heads. For example Panchayat Minister Chandranath Mishra,who won from Bolpur,has declared that he did not spent any money on campaign workers.

Minister for Correctional Homes and Non Conventional Energy Shankar Chakraborty and two other MLAs have stated that they have not spent money on campaign materials like banners,flexes and posters.

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Sultan Singh,a former IPS officer who won a Trinamool Congress ticket from Bally constituency has stated that he incurred no expenditure on organising public processions and meetings. The zero expenses claim made by these MLAs is strange and needs to be investigated, said Biplab Halim,Coordinator of West Bengal Election Watch.

Under Section 81 of Representation of the Peoples Act,any concerned voter can file a petition challenging the election of a candidate on grounds of under declaration of election expenses within 45 days of the results being declared.

Incidentally,the deadline ended on Tuesday. State EC officials said that unless any petition is not filed by a voter,they cannot act on

suo motu.

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