Chennai, April 17: The chief election commissioner today urged professionals of the Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India to evolve a statistical model that can accurately show poll expenses.

?If you can demonstrate to us your capability of doing it even in one constituency, then we (Election Commission) could think of extending it either to the level of a state study or a national study,? T.S. Krishnamurthy told members of the Calcutta-based institute.

He was speaking here at the institute?s diamond jubilee celebrations, being held at various places across the country.

Krishnamurthy, who retires in mid-May, said the poll panel had made an estimate of expenses for the last general elections and he himself had submitted a related paper.

?But I am not satisfied with it as we took one state and extrapolated it to the national level.? It was not a ?highly professional? job, he said.

Elections have two or three financial aspects, namely the costs incurred by the state and central governments, the Election Commission, and the political parties and candidates, Krishnamurthy explained.

?I realise that neither the Election Commission, the state government nor the central government has the complete picture of the cost incurred in elections.?

?It is all surmises or broad figures that we get from various fields,? he said.

The challenge before the institute was to dovetail all three aspects into a reasonably accurate statistical model, the poll panel chief said.

If the institute?s professionals could do so, it would have ?tremendous implications? for the conduct of elections in the country, Krishnamurthy said.

?We (poll panel) have some kind of a rough and ready method for giving information on this (the cost) but I am not satisfied,? he added.