Maharashtra:
An explosive report in a top daily says Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan's election campaigns during the just-concluded assembly elections ran as news but not as advertisements.
The Chief Minister said he spent a mere Rs 5,379 on newspaper advertisements and another Rs.6,000 on cable television ads.
These figures don't match the unprecedented media coverage Chavan got during the election campaign.
The newspaper report has gathered 47 full newspaper pages, many of them in colour, focused exclusively on Chavan and the government.
And none of these newspapers carrying those many full pages on him marked them as advertising material.
Which means all this material ran as 'news.' Had it been advertising, it would have cost crores of rupees.
PTI adds: The BJP has reacted quickly, accusing Chavan of indulging in "electoral malpractices" and saying it will move the Election Commission to demand a high-level probe into the issue.
"The Maharashtra Chief Minister has provided incorrect details of his election expenditure to the EC. He had spent more than what is allowed and submitted wrong details of his expenditure to the EC," BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in New Delhi.
Naqvi said he would lead a BJP delegation to the EC on Monday. Party MP and spokesperson Prakash Javadekar would also be a part of the delegation.
The Chief Minister had won the Bhokar assembly seat in Maharashtra's Nanded district.