NEW DELHI: The humble chhola kulcha kept both Arvind Kejriwal and Nupur Sharma going till lunch in the early days of campaigning. Whereas, the AAP candidate from New Delhi bought a Rs 15 meal for eight, BJP's Sharma, contesting for the same seat, bought it for 50 others. And though divine intervention is priceless, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi spent Rs 1,210 on havan and pooja samagri and paid Rs 1,100 to a pandit on January 24.
The day-to-day expense register of candidates is being made public on the website of the chief electoral officer, Delhi, since the Lok Sabha election last year. Registers have been uploaded for constituencies including New Delhi, GK, Sadar Bazar, Krishna Nagar, Adarsh Nagar and Janakpuri. The maximum amount a contestant for an MLA seat can spend on campaigning is Rs 28 lakh.
AAP's Sadar Bazar candidate Som Dutt, spent Rs 8 on tea or bread till January 26, when he splurged Rs 11,060 on laddoos. He also spent Rs 73,000 on "Metro ad" and Rs 2,500 on a "Bullet bike". Congress candidate from New Delhi, Kiran Walia, has been eating better. She ran up a bill of Rs 11,542 at Anand Bhawan on January 23.
Most AAP candidates, except Rakhi Birla contesting from Mangolpuri and Jarnail Singh from Rajouri Garden, haven't bought brooms, choosing to go for the more conventional mala-dhol-flag combo. The going rate for dhols is Rs 550. AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj contesting from GK spent Rs 4,400 on eight. His rival from BJP, Rakesh Gulia, had one when he filed his nomination. Congress contestant from Adarsh Nagar, Mukesh Kumar Goel, paid Rs 1,600 per autorickshaw with loudspeaker where the rate is Rs 1,500 per auto per day. Walia on January 27 ordered four autos for nine days and paid Rs 54,000.
Congress' Sharmistha Mukherjee spent Rs 29,663 on handbills and masks while Ajay Maken spent Rs 36,776 on publicity material. Congress' Rajkumar Chauhan from Mangolpuri must have bought the most expensive handbills at Rs 12 for one on January 21.
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR's) Anil Verma said, "The odd party may say they have spent 80% or 90% of the amount allowed, but that's very rare," Verma said.
