EC ropes in IT to keep a tab on poll expenditure in Bihar

The Election Commission (EC) today sought help of the Income Tax (IT) department in Bihar to keep a watch over poll expenditure of candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
Teams of IT officials would be posted in each of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies to monitor expenditure by the candidates and political parties, an EC official said.
A control room has been set up in Patna to coordinate with all the teams. The movement of candidates and party officials at airports would also be under the watch by the taxmen.
"IT cells at the Patna and Gaya airports would check all scheduled and non-scheduled flights so that cash or objectionable things were not transported by the contestants or their supporters. Helicopters would also be checked," said Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshmanan.

The move is an outcome of a meeting between Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ajay V Nayak and IT Director (Investigations) Kumar Sanjay here today.
Talking to PTI, Sanjay said, "These measures by the IT department will help curb the use of black money in the general elections here. We will go after suspicious money or bullion."
Meanwhile, nine cases were registered against candidates in Nalanda, Katihar, Buxar, Bhojpur and Muzaffarpur districts of Bihar for violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
These relate to the defacement of public property, flouting of rules related to loudspeaker use and holding of political meetings.