04-02-2011, 10:43 PM
Costs in Kerala, lower than in Tamil Nadu, are still vastly more than the spending cap. "It's higher in urban centres and lower in hilly areas like Munnar," says D Dhanuraj, managing director of Kochi-based Civitas Consultancies. EC officials say Kerala's voters are so politically savvy that parties consider it a waste of money to bribe them for votes.
These days the EC videotapes rallies to record party vehicles and so on to tally them with declared expenses. It has also roped in tax sleuths to track movements of cash and booze. And sometimes, the watchdogs get lucky. Since elections were announced on March 1, the EC has seized Rs 2.85 crore in cash in Assam and Rs 3.11 crore in Bengal. But the haul from Tamil Nadu is an eye opener: Rs 18 crore in cash, 7,800 litres of alcohol, thousands of wristwatches, dhotis, sarees and shawls and, in a place near Salem, 9,000 detonators for explosives. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news...854123.cms
These days the EC videotapes rallies to record party vehicles and so on to tally them with declared expenses. It has also roped in tax sleuths to track movements of cash and booze. And sometimes, the watchdogs get lucky. Since elections were announced on March 1, the EC has seized Rs 2.85 crore in cash in Assam and Rs 3.11 crore in Bengal. But the haul from Tamil Nadu is an eye opener: Rs 18 crore in cash, 7,800 litres of alcohol, thousands of wristwatches, dhotis, sarees and shawls and, in a place near Salem, 9,000 detonators for explosives. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news...854123.cms