AGARTALA, July 17 (TIWN): National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) – working of electoral and political reform sought action from Election Commission of India (ECI) over incorrect statement of expenditure submitted by the MPs and political parties on Loksabha election.In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath alleged there was a discrepancy in the election expenditure statement of the elected members of Loksabha and their respective parties.

“Altogether 75 MPs of 277 from national parties declared a sum of Rs 7.46 Cr were received from their parties but the parties have declared Rs 14.19 Cr was given to 138 MPs,” the letter mentioned.

While comparing the expenses of candidates against their parties’ expenses, NEW observed the amounts declared by the candidates did not match with the declarations of their parties.

Demanding action into the discrepancy of financial statement the organisations recommended a detail corrective measure to ensure transparency in the financial functioning of the political parties.

NEW officials however, rued that in analyzing the expenditure statements of political parties during 2009 Loksabha, has found various instances where the parties have not followed the pro-forma suggested by the ECI.

Moreover, only 36 of the 41 recognised parties had submitted their expenditure statements for 2009 elections. A total 15 MPs from 12 regional parties and belonging to nine different states have mentioned various amounts as received from their respective parties which do not match with the affidavits submitted by the parties.

To ensure full transparency in election he demanded uploading of Election Expenditure statements of candidates within 72 hours by all CEOs, he said adding that the format for election expense statements should include mode of payment for donations made by party to the candidate including date, cheque/DD number and detail of the sources.

They also asked to impose a limit on cash donations to political parties by individuals at Rupees one lakh and All individuals donating funds above Rs 50,000, in a single transaction, should be asked to disclose their PAN details and stricter penalty to be imposed on political parties (like de-recognition) for non- submission of IT returns.