Poll Expense Discrepancies: 15 Candidates, Including 7 MLAs, Issued Notices
Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Pune District Collector Confirms Preparedness For Vote Counting Day
The Pune district election administration has issued notices to 15 candidates, including seven MLAs, due to discrepancies in their campaign expenses ahead of the state assembly elections. Among those served notices are prominent politicians such as Sunil Tingre from the Nationalist Congress Party, state higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil, and Siddharth Shirole .
The campaign expenses of the candidates were examined in three stages, with the examination carried out in the presence of the election expenditure inspector. The inspection revealed significant discrepancies between the expenditure submitted by the candidates and the records. For instance, MLA Sunil Tingre incurred the highest campaign expenditure at ₹24.39 lakh, followed by former MLA Bapusaheb Pathare at ₹23.55 lakh, and sitting MLA Bhimrao Tapkir at ₹22.57 lakh.
Suhas Diwase, Pune district collector and election officer, stated that a discrepancy of ₹7.14 lakh was observed in the expenses submitted by Sachin Dodke of the Nationalist Congress Party in the Khadakwasla constituency. Additionally, a discrepancy of ₹7.10 lakh was found in the expenses of BJP candidate Chandrakant Patil in the Kothrud constituency.
The eight constituencies in Pune city, namely Vadgaon Sheri, Shivajinagar, Kothrud, Khadakwasla, Parvati, Hadapsar, Pune Cantonment, and Kasba Peth, have a spending limit of ₹40 lakh for candidates. The final inspection will be carried out in the presence of the election expenditure inspector after 30 days from voting.
The Pune district election administration’s actions aim to ensure transparency and accountability in campaign expenses, maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.
