EC to take steps to check misuse of money power during polls

The Election Commission (EC) will implement a series of measures, including forming village vigilance committees, to check misuse of money during polls in Tamil Nadu, which has been identified as one of the 'sensitive' states on the issue.
"Based on past experience Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Puduchery, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Haryana have been identified as sensitive, where expenditure will be more," Director General (Election Expenditure) P K Dash told a media workshop here.
In Tamil Nadu especially, he said, plans were afoot to assess the impact of the village vigilance committee concept, which would be a voluntary exercises before expanding it to other states.

Elaborating about other measures Dash said, "we are thinking of sending the central paramilitary force in advance to these states besides employing more observers and deployment of flying squads. However, timely information is very important."
EC will also accept video and photos sent by citizens regarding misuse of money power besides treating media reports in this regard as formal complaint, he said.
Dash said that while use of muscle power had been controlled by steps taken by the EC, "use of money power was the issue with money in all colour - black, white, tainted and grey - getting into the fray."

He further said that the demands for increasing the ceiling of candidate's expenditure was also under EC's consideration.
"At present, the ceiling was Rs 40 lakh for Parliamentary polls and Rs 16 lakh for assembly elections," he said.
"Public awareness was also required against accepting money for vote as both offering and accepting bribe was an offence," he said, adding the EC would embark on an awareness campaign against money power in elections.