Beed, Jul 2: Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who courted a controversy over his poll spending remark said he would reply to the show cause notice served on him by the Election Commission on the issue on July 6. "I will reply to the Election Commission's notice on July 6... I will speak on the issue only after I give my reply," Munde said.
"I want reforms in the election process," Munde said without elaborating further. The Beed MP was speaking to reporters in Majalgaon tehsil of the district on the sidelines of a programme.
Speaking at a book release function presided by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi last Thursday in Mumbai, Munde had said, "When I first contested the elections to Maharashtra Assembly in 1980, my expenses were Rs 29,000. But my expenditure in the last elections (2009 Lok Sabha polls) was Rs 8 crore.
"I hope no Election Commission official is present among the audience. Even if an Election Commission authority is present, six more months are to go for the Lok Sabha polls. Even if a case is filed, so be it," he had further said.
Munde was served a show cause notice on June 29 by the Election Commission in which it asked him why he should not be disqualified for suppressing and undervaluing his poll campaign expenditure with his public admission of having spent Rs 8 crore for it.
The EC has asked Munde to explain within 20 days why action should not be initiated against for spending Rs 8 crore on his election campaign in 2009, which was way above the prescribed limit of Rs 25 lakh.
