The State Election Commission of Odisha has enhanced the expenditure limit of candidates contesting the upcoming panchayat polls.

The limit has been increased taking a pragmatic approach to the requirements of the candidates and considering the rise in petrol and diesel prices and other election-related expenses like purchase of campaign materials, official sources said.

The poll expenditure limit for zilla parishad members has been hiked from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, while a candidate contesting for samiti member and sarpanch now can spend up to Rs 2 lakh. Earlier, the poll expenditure limit for the sarpanch and samiti member candidates was Rs 80,000.

The State Election Commission issued a notification to this effect on Monday.

A candidate contesting for the zilla parishad can use five jeeps or cars and 10 two-wheelers for campaigning. Candidates contesting for panchayat samiti member and sarpanch are allowed to use two jeeps or cars and five motorcycles for electioneering. The expenditure on the use of vehicles will be incorporated in the panchayat poll expenses.

A candidate contesting for zilla parishad member will submit details of vehicles to the sub-collector and a candidate in the fray for panchayat samiti member and sarpanch will have to submit expenditure details to the block development officer (BDO).

Panchayat polls are likely to be held in the first quarter of next year.

The notification of the dates for polls is yet to be published. The polling time for the forthcoming panchayat elections has been increased by one hour. The voting will be held from 7am to 1pm. Earlier, the polling was conducted from 7am to 12pm.