Lucknow, March 21 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa has directed all candidates participating in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to establish separate bank accounts for monitoring poll expenditure. Candidates can open individual or joint accounts with agents, even a day before filing nomination.
The CEO emphasized, “Bank accounts can be opened in any bank or post office. The ECI has instructed banks to open a dedicated counter for deposit and withdrawal of funds in the account on a priority basis. Banks will provide 200 copies of a cheque book to the candidate at the time of account opening.”
Moreover, all banks must notify the District Election Officer (DEO) if withdrawals exceed Rs 10 lakh. The DEO will then inform the income tax department’s nodal officer for further action. During the election period, QR receipts will be generated for cash transportation, to be presented during inspections by election-related teams.
If discrepancies are found between cash being transported and QR receipts, the cash will be seized. In cases where technical issues prevent QR receipt generation, banks must provide appropriate evidence along with the cash, following the standard operating procedure for cash transportation.
In compliance with the model code of conduct, 2.23 lakh licensed weapons have been surrendered across Uttar Pradesh, with 271 licenses seized and 3,391 cancelled. The police have also confiscated 748 arms, 767 cartridges, 4 kg of explosives, and 62 bombs, in addition to sealing 135 illegal arms manufacturing units.
