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Tsunami & After

No consensus on state funding of polls

     New Delhi: The all-party meeting convened by the Election Commission failed to make a consensus on state funding of elections as political parties favoured different views here today. The Congress party held that the expenditure incurred on candidates by the parties should not be included in the ceiling of Rs 25 lakh for Members of Parliament and Rs 10 lakh for legislative members. Opposing the proposal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Akali Dal, said that if it was implemented, the objective of keeping money power and muscle power at bay during elections would not be achieved.

     Earlier in the morning, Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon presided over the meeting, which was also attended by the two Election Commissioners and six national partie-- the Congress party, BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Nationalist Congress Party besides about 25 regional parties. BJP leader V K Malhotra said that his party demanded that the model code of conduct be given legal sanction and a strict monitoring of election funding be introduced. The meeting was convened to put a curb on the use of "money power" by the political parties. The Cabinet, in December last year, had directed the EC to formulate guidelines and prepare a final draft to present it before the Parliament. The Commission then started consulting the recognised political parties, regarding the facilities that the parties and its candidates get at the time of elections. After consulting the parties,

    The Commission is expected to submit its report to the Cabinet followed by Parliament to go through it and make necessary amendments. The candidates are provided a certain quantity of petrol, diesel, printing papers, postal stamps, loudspeakers for the purpose of election. Other arrangements, like refreshments and edible to the people who are involved in counting is also provided. The EC will look into the minor details of all the facilities that the parties and its candidates get. After getting the required information, the EC will set guidelines to check the misuse of these items. Most of the parties, however, have already submitted their views to the Commission in writing.