Chandigarh, Punjab
Of 211 complaints alleging that candidates had paid to get news published or broadcast during the days leading to the November 4 elections in Himachal Pradesh, 104 have now been confirmed by poll authorities as cases of paid news.

In only 14 of these 104 cases, however, the candidates have accepted that they had paid for news and have included the sum to their expenditure accounts. In the remaining 90, the candidates are yet to do so.

Candidates in Himachal had a cap of Rs 11 lakh on their election expenditure and any money spent to get news published or broadcast needed to be booked to their expenditure accounts.

Till polling day, media certificate and monitoring committees (MCMC) set up at district and state levels received a total 211 complaints of which 21 were found not related to paid news. The remaining 190 were considered suspect cases and the returning officers issued notices to the candidates.

Following hearings by district MCMCs during which the candidates were allowed to reply or provide an explanation, the EC authorities confirmed another 90 cases did involve paid news. In 61 complaints, the candidates chose not to reply within the stipulated time period and may face trouble.