'I know of people who spend more than 100 crores during elections' says Naresh Agarwal

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Agarwal here on Sunday said that he knows of people who spend more than 100 crores during elections and hence Gopinath Munde-who confessed to spending 8 crores-is not wrong.

"There is a big difference between the law and reality. The reality is very different and startling. Gopinath Munde according to me is not wrong; he has minimized it and said that people spend much more. I know of people who spend more than 100 crores during elections," Agarwal said.

"People throw money to get votes. The Election Commission has to look at the realities and then take a call only then can this menace be washed out. If the old style is again followed then corruption will again exist. Hence, as of now, honesty in elections is a dream scenario," he added.

Senior BJP MP and deputy leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Gopinath Munde, had earlier publicly admitted of spending Rs. 8 crores on his election campaign in the last Lok Sabha polls, a number far in excess of the official limit of Rs 40 lakh.

Munde, who was speaking at a function at the Bombay Stock Exchange, said he did not "care" if he was turfed out of Parliament by the Election Commission, which monitors spending by candidates, as fresh elections were around the corner.