Hyderabad, July 22: The ceiling limit of election expenditure for a contesting corporator in the ensuing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections has been enhanced from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
The decision to hike the ceiling limit was taken after the views expressed by the leaders of political parties in the State Election Commission (SEC) meeting held at the Commission’s office in Buddha Bhavan here on Tuesday. The meeting was convened by State Election Commissioner AVS Reddy.
Keeping in view the present consumer price index, leaders demanded that maximum election expenditure should be increased to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 50,000, to which the Commission agreed.
The SEC Commissioner ruled out using ballot paper for the ensuing elections to the GHMC and said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used for the voting purpose.
Political leaders of some Opposition parties had wanted ballot papers.
The leaders complained to the SEC that the delimitation and reservation of wards had not been done properly and there were several discrepancies. The Commissioner informed the leaders that the matter was sub judice as it was pending in the High Court. Besides, the issue did not fall under his purview.
The meeting discussed about time-frame for conduct of the GHMC elections, model code of conduct, compulsory identification of voters and appointment of micro-observers, disclosure of information pertaining to criminal antecedents, assets, liabilities and educational qualifications of the contestants.
Telugu Desam leaders Yerrannaidu and Vijayarama Rao, Congress leader Kamalakar Rao, BJP leaders Chintala Ramchandra Reddy, Venkat Reddy, and other leaders were also present.
–Agencies–