Election expenses of contestants from Bengaluru not yet in public domain

There is just a day left for polls in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, including Bengaluru, in the state, but election authorities are yet to publish details of election expenditure of candidates in the fray.

Election laws mandate that candidates submit their expenditure details to the returning officer (RO) at three different intervals during the period when the code of conduct is in force. The details are to be published every time they are submitted by a candidate. The last statement is submitted two days before polling day. As per rules, the district electoral officer (DEO) scrutinises the election expenses of each candidate and uploads the abstract statement along with copy of notices issued by the RO, on the website of the chief electoral officer (CEO).

The purpose of publicising this information is to enable voters to know how much their candidates are spending on their election campaign and on what precise aspects.


The Election Commission of India has set a ceiling of Rs 70 lakh per candidate for canvassing. Exceeding the limit or submitting inaccurate accounts could lead to disqualification of the candidate/elected representative for three years. However, candidates are rarely found exceeding the limit, at least on paper.

Some districts, including Belagavi, Bagalkot and Uttara Kannada, have made the expenditure details public on their district administration website. But several others, including Bengaluru, have not. A click on the “candidates expenditure” link on BBMP’s website redirects one to the CEO-Karnataka’s web page.

Additional CEO KG Jagadeesha who monitors implementation of the code of conduct and election-related expenditure said the DEOs are supposed to share the details on their respective websites. “The CEO website gives links to websites of all DEOs, where one can find the expenditure information. I am not aware why the BBMP has not put the information in public domain. I will follow it up,” he said. BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Pras-ad, the DEO for Bengaluru’s three constituencies, was not available for comment.