A total of 172 complaints of paid news were received by the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra during recently held Lok Sabha elections, but only one out of them could be confirmed as the case of paid news, revealed an RTI query.
The query was filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali seeking details of the complaints received by the CEO against candidates in Lok Sabha polls and the number of candidates disqualified for indulging in paid news.
In response to the query, Shirish Mohod, an officer of Under Secretary rank in the state government, said that while a total of 172 complaints of paid news were received by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) set up by the State Election Commission, only one complaint was ascertained as the paid news case.
He, however, did not disclose the name of the candidate concerned and the action taken in this regard.
While notices seeking an explanation were issued to 83 out of 172 candidates by the Returning Officers (ROs) of the concerned constituencies, only two candidates admitted to having spent the amount and showing it in their account of expenses.
The query further revealed that in 41 cases, the candidates did not reply to the notice within the stipulated time and in 40 cases, candidates refused to accept that they had spent the money and avoided giving any explanation to the Returning Officer concerned.
Galgali had also demanded that EC should make public all the plaints received by the MCMC.
"EC should ensure that a transparent environment is maintained during elections and for that to happen, such vital information should be made public immediately," Galgali said, adding that revealing the names will serve as a strong deterrent to candidates indulging in paid news.
Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Gadre remained unavailable for comment immediately.
Despite repeated attempts, state election commission officials could not be contacted.
