Udupi : Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, Deputy Commissioner, said on Tuesday that the Election Commission was keeping a tight vigil on the expenditure by political parties during the parliamentary elections.

Addressing presspersons here, Ms. Korlapati said the election expense account should be maintained in the format provided by the Election Commission.

The expenditure also included the deposit for their candidature. The details of the expenses should be provided to the Expenditure Observer, when it was sought. A candidate could spend a maximum of ₹70 lakh.

There were 1,837 polling stations in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency. All these stations would have assured minimum facilities in the four Assembly segments of Udupi, Kundapur, Karkala, and Kaup in Udupi district. The Deputy Commissioner of Chikkamagaluru will provide these facilities in the pooling stations in the four Assembly segments of Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamgaluru, and Tarikeri in Chikkamagaluru district.

The Assistant Returning Officers will assist the Deputy Commissioners in this regard. Money above ₹50,000 without valid documents could not be carried. Loudspeakers should be used by political parties or candidates from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

If there was any violation of the Model Code of Conduct, people could lodge their complaints with the telephone number: 1950 at the District Control Room in the Deputy Commissioner’s Office here.

Similarly complaints could also be lodged at the Taluk Control Rooms opened in Udupi (0820-2521299), Kundapur (08254-298058), Karkala (08258-230201), Kaup (0820-2551344) and Byndoor (08254-252057).