Union Law and Justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday told the Rajya Sabha that the Election Commission of India (ECI) needed to recheck the cap on election spending by candidates.

He told members that the limit on poll expenses had been revised four-five times. While the cap spending by Lok Sabha candidates was at Rs 70 lakh, it stood at Rs 28 lakh for candidates in Assembly elections.

Prasad made the statement as he responded to the discussion on a private member’s Bill introduced by Congress MP M.V. Rajeev Gowda on July 26 last year. The Bill sought to remove all limits on poll expenditure in the interest of transparency.

“If this Bill is accepted, it will surely weaken the purity of India’s electoral process,” the minister contended. “I take this point that the Election Commission needs to revisit it. It was last done in 2014,” he observed, adding that it was the ECI’s jurisdiction under Rule 90 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

Prasad stressed on another issue related to retaining the festive nature of Indian elections.

“While all of us respect the Model Code of Conduct… but with greatest respect to the institution of the Election Commission, they need to reflect that while ensuring the Model Code of Conduct, the festive nature of Indian democracy should not be lost,” he said, referring to the code of conduct for political parties in the run-up to polling.

Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee statement that all MPs began their careers with a lie by filing false election spending accounts, the Congress MP said there was no need for such a law.

“Let us pay some respect to his [Vajpayee’s] views… And we should not have a law which forces candidates to go out there and lie. A law that is broken by every Member of Parliament is not worth retaining,” he said.