Deekshitula Subrahmanyam Kakinada

TheState Election Commission has prescribed expenditure limits for candidates contesting local body elections to curb the influence of money and muscle power and ensure a level playing field for all contestants, Kakinada District Election Expenditure Observer Garud Sanket Sunil said. Addressing a training programme for expenditure observers, Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) and Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) at the Collectorate on Wednesday, he stressed the need for strict monitoring of election related expenditure to ensure transparency and impartiality in the electoral process. He directed the teams to coordinate with one another and ensure that candidates strictly adhere to the prescribed expenditure limits and election rules. Explaining the limits for various posts, Sunil said ZPTC candidates could spend up to Rs 8 lakh and MPTC candidates up to Rs 4 lakh. The expenditure limit for sarpanch candidates was fixed at Rs 4 lakh in major gram panchayats and Rs 2.50 lakh in minor gram panchayats.