Bhubaneswar: Ahead of urban elections, the State Election Commission (SEC) has enhanced the expenditure limit for candidates contesting for the posts of councillor, corporator, chairperson and mayor in the urban local bodies (ULBs).
“In exercise of the powers conferred under the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003 and having consulted the state government, the SEC hereby revises as follows the limit on expenditure that may be incurred by a candidate either by himself or through any person authorised by him for election as councillor/corporator/chairperson/mayor to an NAC/municipality/ municipal corporation,” the commission said in an order.
As per the order of the SEC, now candidates contesting for the posts of corporator and mayor in three municipal corporation towns — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur can spend up to Rs 2 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, respectively.
Similarly, the expenditure limits for candidates contesting for councilor and chairperson in municipalities having a population above 1 lakh is set at Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively.
For the municipality having a population between 50,000 and 1 lakh, the expenditure limits are Rs 75,000 and Rs 3 lakh for candidates fighting for councilor and chairperson posts respectively.
Besides, the candidates contesting for councilor and chairperson in NACs or municipalities having a population of up to 50,000 can now spend upto Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh, respectively.
PNN
