The Election Commission has barred former Congress MLA Asan Maulana from contesting elections for three years, citing non-compliance in submitting a proper election expenditure account.
Asan Maulana had contested the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election from Chennai’s Velachery constituency on a Congress ticket. The Commission’s scrutiny focused on newspaper advertisements linked to the campaign, with the reported ad spend put at Rs 32,05,915.
According to the order, the candidate’s declared expenses were Rs 17,03,548, and when combined with the advertisement cost, the total came to Rs 49,09,463—above the permitted ceiling of Rs 30.80 lakh. The Commission said the amount was not reflected appropriately in the expense statement and issued notices beginning in 2021.
Maulana responded that the advertisements were released by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee for all alliance candidates and that he had not approved them, arguing the cost should be booked to the party. However, the Commission held that the ads carried his name and photograph and directly sought votes for him, and that such expenses must be included in the candidate’s account.
Invoking provisions of the Representation of the People Act, the Commission said he failed to file a “proper and true” account under Sections 77 and 78, and declared him disqualified under Section 10A for three years from August 19, the date of the order. The order has also been published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.
