Polls on cards? FM Jaitley increases election budget by 110 per cent

Election Commission overall budget increased by 41 per cent

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave 110 per cent more funds to the Election Commission (EC) in the financial budget for 2018-19 for the purpose of conducting elections in the country. This has given rise to the speculation that the Union government may advance the general elections scheduled in March next year.

Jaitley budgeted Rs 2.48 billion for 2018-19 for the purpose of conducting elections. The EC had spent Rs 1.18 billion on conducting elections in the current fiscal, according to revised estimates of 2017-18.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been consistently advocating for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and