Tamil Nadu Bypoll TVK's P Sathyabama Faces ECI Complaint Over Viral Video Claiming ₹31 Crore Election Spend

Chennai: As voters in Dharapuram and Madurantakam, both reserved Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, headed to the polling booths on Tuesday for exercising their franchise in bypolls, P Sathyabama, the TVK candidate from Dharapuram, was mired in controversy after a video clip showed her making a claim that she had spent ₹31 crore for the elections.

From the conversation – though Sathyabama denied it was her in the video – it appeared she was saying the amount was spent during the general elections in which she was elected from the same constituency on an AIADMK ticket. “Edappadi (Palaniswami, AIADMK general secretary) did not give a single paise,” the woman in the video was heard saying.

Video sparks expenditure row

She was also heard using a derisive term to loathe “otherwise why would I go here” in an obvious reference to her switch over to the ruling TVK after resigning her Assembly membership within a month of the general election. She also made claims of having spent heavily to meet the hospitality expenditure of Ministers and others who had come for the campaign.

Using the video as evidence, DMK MLA S Austin lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking action against Sathyabama, accusing her of non-disclosure of election campaign expenditure and violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

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Complaint filed with ECI

In a complaint handed over to Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik at the Secretariat, he said in the video Sathyabama was heard saying “an amount of approximately ₹14 lakh was spent on logistics, including hotel accommodation for visiting dignitaries/Ministers, flight tickets for alliance representatives and setting amounts related to election coordination/resorts.”

He urged the poll body to initiate an immediate inquiry by directing the Expenditure Monitoring Cell, District Election Officer and Returning Officer of the Dharapuram Assembly segment to verify the day-to-day expenditure registers filed by her. If the ₹14 lakh was not submitted to the election authorities, action must be taken against her under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for filing “fake expenditure statements,” he demanded.