The Election Commission has notified rules enhancing the maximum amount of money that candidates can spend while contesting for Parliamentary and Assembly seats.

A candidate contesting for a Parliamentary seat in 25 States including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Delhi will now be able to spend a maximum of ₹77 lakh. In the other three States candidates contesting for Parliamentary elections can spend a maximum of ₹59.4 lakh for their campaign.

The Commission has also enhanced the maximum amount a candidate can spend for getting elected to an Assembly constituency. This ranges from ₹30.8 lakh for the Assembly seats of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to ₹22 lakh for the Union Territory of Puducherry and the States of Tripura, Nagaland and Mizoram. In

the case of Goa, the Commission has set ₹59.4 lakh as the maximum a candidate can spend on an election to a Parliamentary constituency while ₹22 lakh is the maximum that a candidate can spend on an Assembly constituency in the State.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only exception where candidates contesting in Parliamentary elections can spend a maximum of ₹70 lakh and those contesting for Assembly elections can spend a maximum of ₹30.8 lakh.

Sunil Arora, Chief Election Commissioner, on September 25 while announcing the schedule for elections to the Bihar Assembly had indicated that there would soon be an enhancement in the limit that a candidate can spend in getting elected to the Parliament and State Assemblies.

The statement adds that the latest 10 per cent increase will be applicable with immediate effect in the on going elections.

The expenditure limits was last revised in 2014 in the last six years, the limit has not been increased despite an increase from 834 million electors to 910 million electors in 2019 and 921 million electors now, while the Cost Inflation Index has increased from 220 to 280 in 2019 and 301 now.

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