Deol overspends in LS polls, gets notice

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, June 19

Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer has issued a notice to MP Sunny Deol, seeking an explanation for the excess expenditure incurred by him while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.

The notice was issued by DC-cum-RO Vipul Ujwal after discrepancies in the MP’s accounts were found by two expenditure observers Aditya Bajpai and Rajesh Dhanishta. At present, both these officials are camping in Gurdaspur.

The constituency had two observers because it comprises two revenue districts of Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

Against the limit of Rs 70 lakh fixed by the Election Commission (EC), the MP is said to have spent more than Rs 80 lakh on his campaign.

“It’s not only Deol who is being questioned. This is a pan-India exercise and explanation is being sought from every candidate who crossed their expenditure limit,” the DC said.

Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva, who was closely related to the MP’s campaign and had even prepared his nomination papers, said: “Yes, we have received the notice and our team will be filing its reply soon. We have all records and will try to match them with those of the observers.”

An official revealed that the details of the expenditure were monitored from the day a candidate files his papers till the counting day. “This also includes the money spent during the winning procession, if any, taken out by the candidate. An FIR can be lodged against the erring candidate if he/she does not come up with a plausible explanation, which is suitable to the DC and the observers,” he said.

Notably, no report of candidates distributing freebies, gifts, cash or liquor surfaced in the run up to the polls.

According to the EC rules, candidates and their election agents could use only a specific bank account and withdraw not more Rs 10,000 at one time. For payments above Rs 10,000, they needed to opt for checks, demand drafts, RTGS and other banking options. The details of these bank accounts had to be furnished in nomination papers.