BJP MP Sunny Deol asked to explain poll expenses ‘crossing’ Rs 70 lakh limit
Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol could find himself in the soup as the Gurdaspur MP has been asked to explain his poll expenditure during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Gurdaspur District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal issued a notice to Sunny Deol to "reconcile" his poll expenditure account after it was found that his expenses crossed the permitted limit of Rs 70 lakh. Deol had trounced Congress’ candidate Sunil Jakhar in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of 82,459 votes. Official sources suggested that according to preliminary calculations, Deol's poll expenditure was found to be Rs 86 lakh. “We have issued a notice to him (Deol) for reconciliation of accounts and the final figure of the poll expenditure will be known only after the reconciliation and settlement of the accounts,” said Ujjwal. “It is too early to comment on the overspending right now,” added Ujjwal. Notably, the statutory poll expenditure limit for Lok Sabha candidates has been set at Rs 70 lakh. Ujjwal mentioned that after the polls, every candidate was asked to reconcile their accounts. “It is a normal statutory notice,” said Ujjwal. On May 15, the Election Commission, following a complaint by the Punjab Congress, had issued directions for adding Rs 1.74 lakh to Deol's poll expenditure after the actor did not respond to its query about a Facebook page being run as a part of his campaign. The Punjab Congress had alleged that the Facebook page, 'Fans of Sunny Deol', was being run without notifying the poll watchdog.
