Hasina spent Tk 1 mln on polls campaign

The account of the Prime Minister’s expenditure was submitted to Election Commission (EC)’s Secretary Mohammad Sadiq on Thursday, a day before the expiry of the deadline.

Hasina had contested from the Gopalganj-3 and Rangpur-6 constituencies in the Jan 5 polls.

She was allowed to spend up to Tk 3.7 million for campaigning in the two constituencies.

Her polls agent Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah submitted the account. Prime Minister’s special aide Selina Khatun and former MP Fazilatunnessa Bappi accompanied him.

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One of the representatives told bdnews24.com that Hasina had spent nearly Tk 498,700 for the Rangpur-6 constituency and around Tk 500,000 for the Gopalganj constituency during campaigns.

A contestant was allowed to spend up to Tk 2.5 million on the polls, Tk 8 on each voter.

The Rangpur-6 and Gopalganj-3 constituencies have 473,000 voters which means Hasina could have spent up to Tk 3.7 million on campaign.

In the 9th parliamentary polls, Hasina had spent Tk 500,000 for campaigning in the Rangpur-6 constituency. At that time, the campaign expenditure ceiling was Tk 1.5 million.

The EC has asked the uncontested winners in the polls to submit account of their campaign expenditure by Friday.

As many as 153 out of 300 constituencies had returned winners without a contest in the Jan 5 polls, boycotted by the BNP and its allies.

A total of 543 contestants had contested in the polls.

EC Deputy Secretary Mihir Sarwar Morshed said all contestants would have to file their expenditure return within 30 days after the gazette’s publication.

A contestant can be jailed for two to seven years for violating the order.

The political parties, too, will have to submit their account of expenditure to the EC within Apr 7.

Twelve political parties had taken part in the polls.

Source: Bd news24