Seizure of cash, liquor, freebies and other inducements offered to voters has touched a record high in the present round of assembly elections, crossing the figure of Rs 1,000 crore for the first time ever in state polls, with the maximum seizure of Rs 446.28 crore reported from Tamil Nadu.
The seizure included cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and precious metals. Tamil Nadu, which is notorious for political parties offering inducements to voters, topped the list. It was followed by West Bengal, where the enforcement agencies have made seizures to the tune of Rs 300.11 crore.
Seizures worth Rs 122.35 crore were made in Assam, while Kerala fared the best among the states, reporting seizure amounting to only Rs 84.91 crore. In the Union Territory of Puducherry, the authorities made seizures worth Rs 36.95 crore.
The total amount of seizure across the four states and Puducherry is a record Rs 1,001.44 crore. This is a massive jump from the Rs 225.77 crore worth of seizure made in the states in the 2016 assembly elections.
“The stupendous rise in seizure figures is because of better preparedness and multi-pronged strategy of the Commission. The Commission conducted exhaustive reviews at various levels,” the EC said in a statement.
The Commission had deployed five special expenditure observers and 321 expenditure observers for close monitoring. As many as 259 assembly seats were marked as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies for a more focused vigil.
The special expenditure observers, the Commission said, have formidable domain expertise and impeccable track record, and they did extensive travelling of the poll-bound states and interacted with enforcement agencies for focused monitoring.
As per law, distributing cash and gifts during the electoral process with the intent to influence voters is not permitted and such expenditure comes under the definition of 'bribery', which is an offence both under Section 171B of the IPC and under the Representation of People Act, 1951. Expenditure on such items is illegal.
