The seizures made by the Election Commission
The enforcement agencies have seized over Rs 1,000 crore worth of cash, liquor and other inducements in the ongoing elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and across 14 states where bypolls are being held, the Election Commission said Monday.
Out of Rs 1,000 crore, 858 crores has been seized from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which is 7 times the seizures done during the assembly elections in 2019, the poll body said.
In 2019 assembly elections, Maharashtra recorded seizures worth Rs. 103.61 crore while for Jharkhand it was Rs. 18.76 crore.
The second round of voting in Jharkhand will take place on November 20. Maharashtra will vote on the same day. The votes for both states will be counted on November 23.
“In Maharashtra, seizures were recorded in all cohorts across all districts, much higher than previous assembly elections. A few noteworthy operations included seizure of Rs. 3.70 crore of cash from a suspicious Jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar District. In another noteworthy incident, in Jamod AC of Buldhana district, 4500 kg of Ganja plants worth Rs 4.51 crore were seized. In Raigad, Rs. 5.20 crore worth of silver bars were seized,” said the poll body.
The poll body said it focus on curbing the role of money power in the elections has resulted in increased volume of seizures.
Chief Election Officer Rajiv Kumar has directed all officials and observers to continue strict watch over next two days and curb distribution of any inducements till polling is complete.
“Jharkhand also witnessed record seizures and this time focus was also to curb illicit mining activities which resulted in seizures of illegal mining materials and machines involved. In a single incident, Rs. 2.26 crore worth of illegal mining material was seized in Rajmahal AC in Sahibganj district and many such actions included seizures related to illegal mining activities,” read the statement.
In Daltonganj, 687 kg of poppy straw was seized, while in Hazaribagh 48.18 Kg of Marijuana was seized, said the Commission.
In Rajasthan, 449 cartons of liquor consignment, hidden behind many layers of boxes of potatoes, was seized at Nagaur while in transit from one neighbouring state to another, said the poll body.
“The surge in seizures involves an extensive monitoring process, which starts months before the announcement of elections. It included an array of activities like sensitising and reviewing enforcement agencies for more coordinated and comprehensive monitoring, marking of expenditure sensitive constituencies, ensuring adequate field teams, training on expenditure monitoring systems and appointment of experienced officers as Expenditure Observers,” said the poll body.
The poll body said the seizures were also the result of investments made in information technology.
“Information Technology is also heavily used through inhouse software ESMS (Election Seizure Management System) for real-time monitoring and sharing of information amongst multiple agencies for a wider deterrence,” it said.
