Gandhinagar: A right to information (RTI) activist said on Wednesday that the absence of clear rules for poll candidates to open separate bank accounts for election expenses is a loophole that allows mismanagement of funds used in elections.Santosh Singh Rathod, who has been working to bring greater transparency to the election process, said that the nomination form submitted by candidates does not include a provision to list social media accounts. “As a result, election officials have no mechanism to evaluate expenses incurred on social media,” he said.The RTI activist said that political parties do not submit their annual accounts and election expense statements to the State Election Commission (SEC). “Despite guidelines by the SEC, some political parties have still not registered themselves with the state commission,” he added.
