Desam spending big

MANDATE 2004

Telugu news channels including ETV, TV9, Maa TV and Teja have been flooded with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) election advertisements. The opposition alliance led by the Congress has begun complaining, albeit late, about the money spent on these ads.

B V Raghavulu, CPI(M) secretary, claimed that the TDP was planning to spend Rs 3 crore in each of the Assembly segments. "The expenditure of the ruling party for each Lok Sabha constituency could be anywhere between Rs 10 and Rs 15 crore," he said.

"The TDP advertisements show the extent of their desperation. The party has also dumped propaganda material worth crores of rupees all over the state. In the 1999 elections, they experimented with money in a limited number of segments. This time around they have extended their money power to all the constituencies," he said.

Raghavulu also accused the TDP of using its strength to bribe weaker elements in the opposition benches and promoting independent candidates to damage the pros-pects of opposition parties. "These tendencies clearly show that the TDP has lost confidence of the people. It has even fielded candidates with criminal backgrounds to win the elections," he said.

"The Congress has not been able to support the candidates with such campaigns due to the lack of funds," said P Upendra of the Congress.