Facebook page costs Sunny ₹1.74L

Acting upon the complaint of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) regarding running a Facebook page ‘Fans of Sunny Deol’ without seeking prior permission from the Election Commission of India, the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), Gurdaspur, has issued orders to include ₹1.74 lakh in the election expenditure of BJP candidate Sunny Deol.

COMPLAINANT SAYS DEOL DID NOT INFORM ECI ABOUT PAGE

Complainant Himanshu Pathak, who is Congress vice-president, said Deol had not given information about this social media page to the Election Commission, which is mandatory.

He said the page was created on Facebook on April 30, through which lakhs of rupees were being spent on Deol’s social media campaign.

Chief electoral officer Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju said the Congress Party had lodged a complaint with the ECI on May 6 in this regard. “An enquiry was conducted by nodal officer of MCMC. A notice was also served to the admin of ‘fans of sunny deol’ page and BJP candidate to seek their explanation, but both failed to reply within stipulated time frame, forcing the action,” Raju said.

“Relying on the veracity of the complaint, the committee decided to add ₹1,74,644 to the expenditure of BJP candidate,” the CEO added.