THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Election Commission has stepped up surveillance to track the expenditure of the candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. Observers have arrived in the district on Friday and will be closely monitoring the expenditure of each candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Poll. Rs 70 lakh is the maximum amount that could be spent for campaigning by a candidate.
District Collector K. Vasuki said that flying squads are closely monitoring the constituencies. She said that static surveillance squads have been assigned at all 15 checkposts in the district and there will be vehicle inspection. Video surveillance squads monitoring campaigns and rallies, she added.
IRS officers including T. Ayyan Perumal and Jagathish Prasad Meena will be monitoring Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal constituencies respectively.
At a press conference held here on Friday, the officers urged the public to help them monitor the expenditures by the candidates. The officials said that citizens can report complaints directly to the election observers or contact the Collectorate.
Any complaints relating to election expenditures by candidates can be reported to mobile number of the officials — 9188521942 (T Ayyan Perumal) and 9530400915 (Jagadish Prasad Meena). Also the citizens can contact 24 hour control room numbers – 0471-23210013, 0471-23210016. Complaints can be registered in the CVigil app launched by the Election Commission.
