Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Odisha Candidate Returns Ticket, Citing Lack Of Funds For Campaign

Contesting a Lok Sabha Election is not a cheap exercise. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) the election expenditure limit for Lok Sabha candidates is Rs 95 lakh in larger states and Rs 75 lakh in smaller states. However, realistically this still falls way short of what a candidate needs for the massive outreach and campaign programmes during the election cycle.

ANI

Candidate retunes ticket

As the Lok Sabha Elections continued, the Congress candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha seat in Odisha had returned her ticket citing lack of funds.

Also read: With Assets Worth Rs 716 Crore, Nakul Nath Is The Richest Candidate In First Phase

Sucharita Mohanty has declined to contest the election saying that she was not getting financial support from Congress.

¡°It is clear that only a fund crunch is holding us back from a winning campaign in Puri. I regret that without party funding, it won't be possible to carry out the campaign in Puri. I, therefore, return the INC ticket for the Puri Parliamentary Constituency herewith," she said.

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Who is Sucharita Mohanty

Mohanty, who used to work as a journalist is also the daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty. In 2014 she had fought from the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, but lost to BJD candidate Pinaki Misra.

She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar "categorically" asked her to fight from her own resources.

"I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri. I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far," she said.

#WATCH | Congress candidate from Puri parliamentary constituency Sucharita Mohanty says, "I have returned the ticket because the party was not able to fund me. Another reason is that in some of the seats in 7 Assembly segments, winnable candidates have not been given the ticket.¡­ pic.twitter.com/xNpQslvDQy

¡ª ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2024

Tried raising funds through donations

Earlier, Mohanty had tried to arrange funds through crowd-funding. She shared a UPI QR code and other account details on her social media account seeking donations to contest the elections.

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Also read: With Assets Worth Rs 320, This Is The Poorest Candidate In First Phase

Other candidates in the fray in Puri include BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik from the BJD.

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