RBI rejects EC’s plea for raising Cash withdrawl limit for candidates

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected the request of the Election Commission to enhance the weekly cash-withdrawal limit, imposed after demonetisation, for those contesting Assembly elections in five states, prompting an angry reaction from the poll panel.

The Commission had requested RBI to enhance the withdrawal limit of candidates to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 24,000 per week imposed post demonetisation as the nominees would find it difficult to meet their campaign expenditure.

But RBI said that it was not possible for it to hike the limit at this stage. An apparently peeved Commission has now written back to RBI Governor Urjit Patel expressing “serious concern about the cursory manner in which the issue has been dealt with”.

“…(It) appears that the RBI has not realised the gravity of the situation…It is reiterated that it is the constitutional mandate of the Commission to conduct free and fair elections and to provide level-playing field to all candidates…in order to facilitate proper conduct of elections, it is imperative that directions issued by the Commission are complied with,” the poll panel said.