Total seizures of unaccounted cash, liquor, drugs, freebies etc in the ongoing polls to five State/UT Assemblies have crossed Rs 1,760 crore surpassing the figure recorded in all past assembly electoral processes. According to the Election Commission (EC), the amount is more than seven times, seizures made in the previous electoral processes in these states in 2018 which was just Rs 239.15 crore. This is an increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during previous elections in the five States.
With Rs 659.2 crore seizures, Telangana is top in the list, followed by Rs 650.7 crore in Rajasthan; Rs 323.7 in Madhya Pradesh; Rs 76.9 crore in Chhattisgarh and Rs 49.6 croe in Mizoram. While assembly polls have already been held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, voting will take place in Rajasthan and Telangana on November 25 and November 30 respectively. The EC said the seizures included cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, all worth of crores, freebies and other items.
In a statement, the EC said, ‘Seizures over Rs 1760 crores have been reported in the five poll-going states since the announcement of the elections, which is more than 7 times (Rs 239.15 crore) the seizures made in previous Assembly Elections in these states in 2018’. This is an increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during the 2018 Assembly Elections in these five states’.
“It may be recalled that seizures of over Rs 1400 crores were done in the past six state Assembly elections held in Gujarat, HP, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Karnataka which is 11 times the previous assembly elections in these states,” added the statement.
Data showed, of total seizures of Rs 1760 crore, the law enforcement authorities and flying squad have seized Rs 372.9 crore as cash; liquor worth Rs 214.8 crore; drugs worth Rs 245.3 crore; precious metals worth Rs 371.2 crore and freebies and other items worth Rs 556.02 crore.
In Telangana, the EC has seized cash amount of Rs 225.23 crore; liquor worth Rs 86.82 crore; drugs worth Rs 103.74 crore; precious metals worth Rs 191.02 crore and freebies worth Rs 52.41 crore.
The agencies have seized cash amount of Rs 93.17 crore; liquor worth Rs 51.29 crores; drugs worth Rs 91.71 crore; precious metals/gold worth Rs 73.36 crore and freebies worth Rs 341.24 crore from Rajasthan.
Cash amount of Rs 33.72 crore; liquor worth Rs 69.85 crore; drugs worth Rs 15.53 crore; precious metals worth Rs 84.01 and freebies valued Rs 120.53 crore have been seized in Madhya Pradesh.
According to EC data, it has seized cash amount of Rs 20.77 crore; liquor valued Rs 2.16 crore; drugs worth Rs 4.55 crore; precious metals worth Rs 22.76 crore and freebies worth Rs 26.68 crore from Chhattisgarh while liquor worth Rs 4.67 crore; drugs valued Rs 29.82 crore and freebies of Rs 15.16 crore seized in Mizoram.
“This time the Commission has also embedded technology into the monitoring process through the Election Expenditure Monitoring System (ESMS) which is proving to be a catalyst, as it brought a wide array of Central and State enforcement agencies together for better coordination and intelligence sharing,” the EC said.
“As many as 228 experienced officers from IRS, IC&CES, IRAS, IDAS and other Central Government Services have been deployed as Expenditure Observers. For close monitoring, 194 Assembly Constituencies have been marked as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies. It is also ensured that there is adequate availability of field level teams in the monitoring process and regular follow-ups with DEOs/SPs and enforcement agencies is done to deal with menace of money-power. The efforts on close monitoring will further continue in the poll- going States till completion of the ongoing elections and the figures of seizure are expected to rise further,” it added.