BJP has exceeded prescribed limit of expenditure in BTC poll: BJSM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has exceeded the prescribed amount in the ongoing BTC election.

In a statement, the president of BJSM, Janaklal Basumatary said that the Election Commission had fixed the maximum amount per candidate of a constituency for BTC council election at Rs.7 lakh only but the ruling BJP had pumped in unlimited amount of money for contesting election in the 6th Schedule BTC administration. "It is a protected tribal area administration meant for protection, promotion, development and welfare of the weaker section of tribal people of the area. The local political parties are very poor with limited source of finance in comparison to the ruling national political party," he said. He alleged that in the ongoing BTC election, the BJP had exceeded far more than the prescribed limit of Rs.7 lakh per candidate. He further alleged that the BJP had provided fund per candidate to the tune of Rs 10 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh.

"In addition to ththis, there were as many as 130 expensive and high profile campaign meetings, mainly by minister DrHimantaBiswaSarma, BJP State president Ranjit Kumar Dass, Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal and MLAs. They used helicopters in the campaign" he said, adding that the expenses of these programmes could cost around Rs 50 crore. Thus, the expenditure incurred by the BJP exceeded the limit fixed per candidate, he said.

Basumatary said that the Election Commission must take this into account for implementing the expenditure limit fixed for each candidate in the BTC election. "The powerful ruling party cannot enjoy unequal advantage of financial position against the smaller local political parties. The Election Commission must take appropriate action against the BJP candidates and the party itself for spending more than the prescribed expenditure for each candidate," he said.

Also Watch: Bharat Bandh: Guwahati Stands with Farmers; KMSS burns PM's effigy

Also Read: Assam Assembly Polls: First-level checking of EVMs & VVPATs starts