Priority for candidates to open accounts either in banks or post-offices

Ranchi: Chief Electoral Officer L Khiyangate said that according to the directions of ECI it is mandatory for the candidate to have a separate account maintain the expenditure during the elections.

He said that the candidate should open his account one day before the filing of nomination and at the time of filing of nomination information in this regard is a must to the returning officer. He said that on a priority basis the banks would be opening the bank accounts of the candidates and said that if any candidates fail to open the account or inform the same to the returning officer than as per the guidelines of the commission a notice would be issued by the returning officer to the candidate.

Mr Khiyangate said that the candidate himself or along with his polling agent can open a joint account to maintain the election expense, however, the bank account can not be opened with any member of the family. He said that the bank account can be opened in any area of the state and there is no compulsion of any constituency area. He said that the bank account can be opened in any public sector bank, cooperative bank on in the post-offices.

The CEO said that all the election-related expenses will be done by the candidate from the separate bank account and all the expenses have to be paid either through cheque, draft, RTGS or NEFT and said that all the money has to be also deposited in the same account.

He said that the candidate can make a maximum payment of Rs 20,000 in cash from the same account. Mr Khiyangate said that 30 days after the election of the results the candidate will have to submit the details of the expenditure to the district electoral officer.