Rs 1,400 cr seized in 2026 polls, West Bengal sees 68.92% spike: ECI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday released a data and said over Rs 1,400 crore worth of illicit inducements were seized during the 2026 General Elections, Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, and bye-elections in seven Assembly constituencies across five States. 

West Bengal saw the highest increase in the seizures of 68.92 per cent, and Tamil Nadu saw an increase in seizures of 48.40 per cent in 2026 compared to the corresponding figures during the 2021 elections.

The figures represent a 40.14 per cent increase in seizures as compared to the 2021 assembly polls in the States of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry, when the seizures amounted to Rs 1,029.93 crore.

Cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and other inducements such as sarees, clothes, pressure cookers, utensils and even television sets are doled out to electors to induce them to vote for a particular party.

According to the data shared by the poll authority, while nearly 155 crore illicit cash was recovered in the four States and Puducherry, liquor worth Rs 183.33 crore (around 70 lakh litres) was also seized.

Drugs worth nearly Rs 337.8 crore were recovered from the four States and one UT, with West Bengal topping the recoveries at Rs 30.28 crore. No drug recoveries were reported from Puducherry.

In West Bengal, the flying squads seized Rs 31.14 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 151.86 crore, drugs worth Rs 130.28 crore, precious metals worth Rs 69.36 crore and other freebies worth Rs 190.77 crore.

The total value of seizures in the State was Rs 573.41 crore. “In Tamil Nadu, the total value of seizures was Rs 662.28 crore. This included Rs 105.22 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 4.94 crore, drugs valued at Rs 78.61 crore, precious metal worth Rs 165.86 crore and other freebies worth Rs 307.65 crore,” the statement said.

In Kerala, the ECI flying squads recovered Rs 80.67 crore worth of inducement items, including Rs 12.12 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 2.51 crore, drugs valued at Rs 58.47 crore, precious metal worth Rs 2.25 crore and other freebies worth Rs 5.33 crore.

In Assam, Rs 6.07 crore cash was seized along with liquor worth Rs 22.71 crore, drugs valued at Rs 70.08 crore, precious metal valued at Rs 3.68 crore and other freebies worth Rs 14.7 crore. The total seizure was worth Rs 117.24 crore.

In Puducherry, the total seizure was worth Rs 9.72 crore, with a majority of it being precious metal — valued at Rs 8.99 crore.

Expenditure observers numbering 376 drawn from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and related accounts services, 7,470 flying squad teams (FSTs) and 7,470 static surveillance teams (SSTs) were also deployed to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement-free elections.

The seizures were facilitated by the IT platform Election Seizure Management System (ESMS), which enhanced inter-agency coordination and streamlined communication between them for sharing actionable input. It was activated on February 26 ahead of the announcement of polls on March 15.

Polls to elect new Governments in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry were held in April, and votes were counted on May 4.