Paul Lyngdoh asked to include Rs 50,000 as election expense
SHIILLONG: The Election Commission has pulled up UDP candidate Paul Lyngdoh for a news article and a letter published in two vernacular dailies mentioning about him and also for an advertisement posted in a city-based website.
The EC has asked the UDP candidate to include Rs.50,000 as election expenditure
The Returning Officer for Shillong Lok Sabha seat, Sanjay Goyal, on Wednesday said that the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) headed by him had found that the matter published in the news papers and the website is equivalent to ‘paid news’ since they were considered as giving more prominence to Lyngdoh.
The owner of the website, however, claimed that a supporter of the candidate (Paul Lyngdoh) had paid the amount of Rs 20,000 for the advertisement.
The Returning officer said that while the newspapers should use prudence while publishing news reports during the election, a pre-certification from Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) is necessary to publish advertisements related to the candidates.
“Around Rs 50,000 will have to be included in the election expenditure of Paul Lyngdoh under the category of paid news,” Goyal said.
