NEW DELHI: The returning officer of New Delhi constituency has shot off a notice to Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal , asking him to explain the expenditure of Rs 16 lakh during his campaign against a sanctioned amount of Rs 14 lakh for each candidate.The notice was sent to Kejriwal on Friday. The AAP leader, who left the city for a three-day meditation course soon after casting his vote on Wednesday and is expected to return on Saturday, stands to be disqualified if the Election Commission is not satisfied with his reply.The returning officer (RO) had flagged a concert, organized by AAP in Jantar Mantar on November 23, saying that the expenditure incurred would be divided among the four candidates who had appeared onstage. Several well-known singers and composers, including Vishal Dadlani, Rabbi Shergill and Kavita Seth, had performed at the event, reportedly without charging the party. It is the expenditure on their performance that is now creating trouble.The exit polls and several surveys have predicted Kejriwal's victory over chief minister Sheila Dikshit in New Delhi constituency. AAP leaders allege the development is a conspiracy against them."We had submitted an expenditure of Rs 12 lakh to the EC for this concert. This did not include the fees of the performers because they never charged us. The RO had told us that we should submit the average fees of each performer to calculate the actual expenses. However, if we were not charged, why should their fee even be an agenda in the list. After that the officer asked for a declaration by each performer saying that they had not charged us. We have submitted these documents. Now, he has asked for affidavits. Why can't these rules be made clear right at the beginning instead of making us run from pillar to post," said a senior AAP member.The returning officer subsequently added Rs 27 lakh as the fee that should have been paid to the performers to the sum quoted by the party and divided it three ways. EC rules say that if a star performer appears on stage in a constituency not his, then the expenditure incurred on him will be charged to the party. In this case, of the four AAP candidates who came on stage during the concert, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were star performers but since the concert was organized in the New Delhi constituency, part of the expenditure would be deducted from Kejriwal's personal budget. That for Sisodia would be charged to the party.The EC has also clarified that if performers have not charged, their fees will not be included to tabulate expenditure on an event though the RO can ask for clarifications."Ideally, the expenditure should have been divided among all 70 candidates since this was not a concert for one person. Secondly, even if it is to be divided among the four who were on stage, why is it being charged to the account of only three? Every other party has had candidates onstage during rallies by 'star performers', including BJP's Narendra Modi and Congress' Rahul Gandhi, but nobody has been charged for it directly," said an AAP source.