Reporter’s diary: AIADMK’s ‘external auditors’ kept tab on poll expenditure

Bitten by past experiences, when the cash allocated for each voter did not reach the endpoint, the party decided to seek external intelligence. Rumour has it that around Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 each had been sanctioned to induce voters.

“Elections have become a multi-crore affair for the political parties and several crores of rupees are being spent to induce voters during campaigns. The DMK also spent a lot of money. To check whether the money spent reached the target, we banked on outsiders,” said a senior AIADMK insider. Besides the police intelligence and party inputs, the ruling party is known have worked on strategies involving outsiders to monitor the ward and local heavyweights. All those who handles cash distribution on behalf of the party were monitored for an effective campaign, the senior explained. “Monitoring the poll works through outsiders helped us campaign better,” the senior admitted.

According to sources, the prospects of AIADMK is better in Vikravandi. It may be noted that both DMK and AIADMK have earned the wrath of the Election Commission of India for spending high amounts, forcing the ECI to notify Tamil Nadu as a State with a high incidence of cash for votes.