MP Congress urges ECI to add poll spend by BJP candidates in their election expenses

BJP has so far named its candidates for 39 out of the total 230 assembly seats in MP. The ECI has not yet announced polls in the state

Bhopal: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls due this year-end, the state Congress has appealed to the Election Commission of India to add the expenditure being made by 39 BJP candidates, whose names have already been announced, in their election expenses.

The BJP has so far named its candidates for 39 out of the total 230 assembly seats in MP. The ECI has not yet announced polls in the state.

---

A Congress delegation headed by Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Monday evening participated in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and other officials and submitted the party’s suggestions, Congress leader and party in-charge for ECI related affairs JP Dhanopia said.

In the letter of suggestions, the Congress has claimed the elections are already due and only the model code of conduct is to be implemented, but the “interference” of the CM, other ministers, MLAs and leaders of the ruling party is continuing in government works, according to Dhanopia.

The BJP has already declared 39 candidates even before the announcement of polls, but Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is campaigning in favour of them on government expenses, the Congress leader further claimed while sharing details of their demands.

The government functions being organised in favour of the declared BJP candidates should be stopped and the expenditure being made by the party should be added in their poll expenses, Dhanopia said.

He said the Congress also gave a number of other suggestions, including the announcement of results in constituencies where candidates win by a margin of less than 1,000 votes only after counting twice.

In the 2018 assembly polls in MP, the Congress won a maximum of 114 seats in the 230-member House. The BJP won 109 seats.

The Congress formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath with the support of SP, BSP and independent candidates.

However, the Nath government collapsed after 15 months when a section of Congress MLAs quit and joined the BJP.
The saffron party returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister.