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The primary reasons for the revision were a rise in the number of electors and the Cost Inflation Index.
Ahead of the coming Assembly polls in five states, the Election Commission Thursday announced a hike in the expenditure limit of candidates to Rs 95 lakh (up from Rs 70 lakh) each for Lok Sabha elections, and up to Rs 40 lakh (up from Rs 28 lakh) for Assembly polls.
The EC had set up a committee in 2020, comprising retired IRS officer Harish Kumar, EC Secretary-General Umesh Sinha and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar, to consider the change in the expense limits, and it invited suggestions from political parties, Chief Electoral Officers and Election Observers.
The primary reasons for the revision were a rise in the number of electors and the Cost Inflation Index. The committee also took into account the plea by political parties regarding the added expense they had to bear of digital campaigning on account of Covid.
Expenditure limit refers to the amount a candidate is allowed to legally spend on election campaigning, including public meetings, rallies, advertisements, posters and banners, and vehicles. All candidates are required to submit their expenditure statement to the EC within 30 days of completion of an election.
The number of total voters in the country has increased from 834 million in 2014 to 936 million now. This means that each candidate is canvassing for a much larger group of electors. Accordingly, in case of Assembly elections, a candidate can now, as per the EC limit, spend Rs 40 lakh in the big states, while the limit for smaller states is Rs 28 lakh, up from Rs 20 lakh.
The Cost Inflation Index (CFI) — used to estimate the increase in prices of goods and assets year-on-year due to inflation – has gone up from ‘240’ in FY 2014-15 to ‘317’ in current FY.
The CFI indicates the fall in purchasing power (quantity of goods that one unit of money can buy).
Ahead of the coming Assembly polls in five states, the Election Commission Thursday announced a hike in the expenditure limit of candidates to Rs 95 lakh (up from Rs 70 lakh) each for Lok Sabha elections, and up to Rs 40 lakh (up from Rs 28 lakh) for Assembly polls.
The EC had set up a committee in 2020, comprising retired IRS officer Harish Kumar, EC Secretary-General Umesh Sinha and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar, to consider the change in the expense limits, and it invited suggestions from political parties, Chief Electoral Officers and Election Observers.
The primary reasons for the revision were a rise in the number of electors and the Cost Inflation Index. The committee also took into account the plea by political parties regarding the added expense they had to bear of digital campaigning on account of Covid.
Expenditure limit refers to the amount a candidate is allowed to legally spend on election campaigning, including public meetings, rallies, advertisements, posters and banners, and vehicles. All candidates are required to submit their expenditure statement to the EC within 30 days of completion of an election.
The number of total voters in the country has increased from 834 million in 2014 to 936 million now. This means that each candidate is canvassing for a much larger group of electors. Accordingly, in case of Assembly elections, a candidate can now, as per the EC limit, spend Rs 40 lakh in the big states, while the limit for smaller states is Rs 28 lakh, up from Rs 20 lakh.
The Cost Inflation Index (CFI) — used to estimate the increase in prices of goods and assets year-on-year due to inflation – has gone up from ‘240’ in FY 2014-15 to ‘317’ in current FY.
The CFI indicates the fall in purchasing power (quantity of goods that one unit of money can buy).