KURNOOL: Candidates in the fray in the first phase of the ensuing gram panchayat elections have raised the pitch of their respective campaigns while going around villages seeking votes in Nandyal division. Those allotted symbols like scissors, basket, and cot are prominently displaying the symbols in order to catch the attention and win support of the electorate across villages.
It is estimated that money spent on publicity appears to be crossing the limit of Rs 2.5 lakh for a village with 10,000 population and Rs 1.5 lakh in villages with less than 10,000 people. One contesting as a ward member should spend a maximum of Rs 50,000. However, the ceiling on expenditure seems ridiculously low if one were to go by the money spent by the candidates in villages.
District election expenditure observer N Vineet Kumar said that all the candidates must conform to the expenditure limits. He said they have to maintain an expenditure register and log all the money spent on…