Among the 117 candidates contesting Assembly elections for six Assembly seats in Nagpur city, Congress duo Dr Nitin Raut from Nagpur (North) and Girish Pandav from Nagpur (South), have emerged as top two spenders, reveals the data available with Election Expenditure Office in the form of Shadow Observation Register (SOR). The candidates have to submit their expenditure in form of Candidate Register. Last candidate register was submitted on November 11. As per the data available till November 11, Dr Nitin Raut has spent Rs 12,57,585 while he has filed expenditure of Rs 1,93,288, having a difference of a whopping Rs 10,64,297. This difference has to be settled through reconciliation process.

 

 

There is a limit of Rs 40 lakh on election expenditure for all candidates, exceeding which the candidates face getting barred from election process. Dr Milind Mane, his opponent from Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), has spent Rs 7,93,423 as per SOR while he has reported to have spent Rs 5,27,362. Manoj Sangole, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate, considered to be the third front in triangular fight for Nagpur (North) constituency, is lagging behind the other two with expenditure of Rs 2,07,220 as per SOR. As with Dr Nitin Raut in Nagpur (North), Congress candidate in Nagpur (South) constituency Girish Pandav also has outspent his opponent Mohan Mate of BJP by nearly double the amount. Girish Pandav has spent Rs 12,47,839 as per SOR against his reported expenditure of Rs 9,56,139. Whereas, Mohan Mate of BJP has reported spending Rs 2,58,018 against the SOR figure of Rs 5,35,746. Satyabhama Lokhande, candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has spent Rs 2,91,646. In Nagpur (South-West) constituency, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP candidate, has spent Rs 4,09,878 as per SOR while he has submitted spending Rs 2,00,522. His opponent from Congress, Prafulla Gudadhe Patil has outspent the Deputy Chief Minister with expenditure of Rs 7,99,990 that confirms with SOR figures.

 

Vikas Thakre, Congress candidate and sitting MLA from Nagpur (West) constituency is determined to protect his seat. This resolve is reflected in his campaign as he has spent Rs 7,59,550 against the expenditure of BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale who has spent Rs 4,55,455. Former Congress leader Narendra Jichkar, an Independent candidate looking to put a good fight, has spent Rs 4,25,485. Nagpur (Central) is another constituency where candidates are engaged in a tight battle. Pravin Datke of BJP has spent Rs 4,91,414 as per SOR while he has reported spending Rs 4,07,359. Bunty Shelke of Congress is not far behind with an expenditure of Rs 3,29,241. Independent candidate Ramesh Punekar is also looking to spice up the race with expenditure of Rs 2,50,280. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchhandra Pawar) is contesting only one seat in the city - Nagpur (East) - and is putting all its force behind candidate Duneshwar Pethe. He has spent Rs 10,06,314, nearly five times more than Krishna Khopde, BJP candidate, who has spent Rs 2,04,580 while he has reported spending Rs 1,54,245 with a difference of Rs 50,335 in the tally. Independent candidate Purushottam Hazare is also matching BJP candidate with expenditure of Rs 1,87,962.