RBI, EC clash over withdrawal limit for candidates
NEW DELHI, Jan 30, 2017, DHNS
The Reserve Bank of India has turned down the request of the Election Commission to increase the weekly cash withdrawal limit to Rs 2 lakh for candidates contesting the Assembly elections in five states.
The poll panel had asked the central bank to allow candidates to withdraw cash up to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 24,000 per week, which was imposed following demonetisation.
This was for candidates to meet poll expenses, the EC had argued in its earlier letter to RBI governor Urjit Patel.
But the RBI turned down the request, leaving the Election Commission fuming. Director General (election expenditure) Dilip Sharma wrote a strongly worded reply to Patel on Saturday, requesting him to “reconsider the proposal”.
Sharma’s correspondence carried a terse message to the RBI governor: to discharge the “constitutional mandate” of facilitating the “proper conduct of elections”, “it is imperative that directions issued by the commission are complied with”.
Sharma opened his one-page letter with the fact that “the Election Commission has taken serious concerns about the cursory manner in which this issue has been dealt with, and it appears that the RBI has not realised the gravity of the matter. Therefore, it is reiterated that it is the constitutional mandate of the EC to conduct free and fair elections and provide level playing field to all candidates”.
The poll panel clarified that candidates are required to incur their election expenses by an account payee cheque or RTGS/NEFT for all payments made to any person or entity exceeding Rs 20,000 during the entire poll process.
Earlier, it had said that a returning officer of a constituency would issue a certificate confirming a person to be a candidate. The contestant then would be permitted to take out Rs 2 lakh per week from the bank account opened to fund election expenses.
The EC had also told the central bank nominees fighting the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab can spend Rs 28 lakh each for campaigning. But the expenses’ limit in smaller states of Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh each.
The poll panel was also of the view that contestants require cash for petty expenses. The less penetration of banks in rural areas and villages was another issue flagged by the EC.
The poll panel had asked the central bank to allow candidates to withdraw cash up to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 24,000 per week, which was imposed following demonetisation.
This was for candidates to meet poll expenses, the EC had argued in its earlier letter to RBI governor Urjit Patel.
But the RBI turned down the request, leaving the Election Commission fuming. Director General (election expenditure) Dilip Sharma wrote a strongly worded reply to Patel on Saturday, requesting him to “reconsider the proposal”.
Sharma’s correspondence carried a terse message to the RBI governor: to discharge the “constitutional mandate” of facilitating the “proper conduct of elections”, “it is imperative that directions issued by the commission are complied with”.
Sharma opened his one-page letter with the fact that “the Election Commission has taken serious concerns about the cursory manner in which this issue has been dealt with, and it appears that the RBI has not realised the gravity of the matter. Therefore, it is reiterated that it is the constitutional mandate of the EC to conduct free and fair elections and provide level playing field to all candidates”.
The poll panel clarified that candidates are required to incur their election expenses by an account payee cheque or RTGS/NEFT for all payments made to any person or entity exceeding Rs 20,000 during the entire poll process.
Earlier, it had said that a returning officer of a constituency would issue a certificate confirming a person to be a candidate. The contestant then would be permitted to take out Rs 2 lakh per week from the bank account opened to fund election expenses.
The EC had also told the central bank nominees fighting the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab can spend Rs 28 lakh each for campaigning. But the expenses’ limit in smaller states of Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh each.
The poll panel was also of the view that contestants require cash for petty expenses. The less penetration of banks in rural areas and villages was another issue flagged by the EC.
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