Date: 
14.06.2011

As the last day for filing of their expense accounts dawned on Monday, candidates in the recent Tamil Nadu assembly elections rushed to submit their papers to the Election Commission.

"Till 4pm on Monday, as many as 2,289 candidates have filed their expenditure accounts", chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar told TOI. He said that he would arrive at the final figure only on Tuesday.

Another senior EC official said that if any candidate, who had contested the April 13 Assembly elections, failed to submit his or her election expenditure to the authorities before June 13, the individuals will be disqualified for three years by the EC from contesting elections under Section 10-A of the Representation of People Act. "Exceeding the prescribed ceiling of expenditure can be a ground for an election petition against a winning candidate. However, not submitting a true day to day account of expenditure can result in disqualification of any candidate, even if he has lost the election," he said.

EC guidelines say that a candidate, contesting assembly polls, can spend up to Rs 16 lakh.

In addition, candidates in each assembly consituency have to submit their final accounts of expenditure within 30 days after declaration of results.

Sources from various parties including AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, Congress, PMK and Left parties claimed that their candidates have already filed their expenditure account well in time.

The assembly elections were held on April 13 and the results were declared on May 13. A total of 2,748 contestants were in the fray for 234 seats in the assembly.

City: 
CHENNAI
Source url: 
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-14/chennai/29656201_1_candidates-rush-assembly-elections-election-expenditure
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