Net cheapest campaign forum

A majority of the Lok Sabha berth aspirants in Chhattisgarh have turned tech-savvy as they find the social media the cheapest forum to run their poll campaign with just `400 per month.

The Election Commission’s new guidelines on the use of social media for electioneering have stated that only internet charges incurred for the campaign would be included in the poll expenses of the candidates, thus turning the forum, which has a good reach among the young voters, unbelievably cost effective.

The social media has been brought under purview of model code of conduct by EC for the first time in Assembly polls held in five states recently. However, the guidelines set for social media were then silent on assessment of expenses for using the social networking sites for the purpose. The EC has now set clear guidelines for the ensuing LS polls in this regard.

The EC has also made it clear that the expenses borne for hiring a firm or individual for running campaign in social media would be included in poll expenses of the candidates.

“From my experience in the state polls, I can say that hardly `400 per month will go to poll expenses following the new EC guidelines, considering that candidates always prefer to conceal the agency they hire to launch their campaign in social media”, a Congress MLA said.