Assembly elections in five states: Cash, freebies worth over Rs 1760 cr seized, up 636% from 2018 elections, says ECI

Poll officials have reported a seizure of over Rs 1760 crore in five poll-bound states since the announcement of the elections, the Election Commission of India announced on Monday. This is an increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during previous elections in the five states - Mizoram, Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. “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 cr) the seizures made in previous Assembly Elections in these states in 2018,” the poll body said in a statement on Monday. As per the data shared by the poll body, Telangana which is going to polls on 30 November reported the highest cash seizure of over Rs 659. 2 crore followed by Rajasthan with a seizure of Rs 650.7 crore, MP of Rs 323. 7 crore, Chhattisgarh of Rs 76. 9 crore and Mizoram of Rs 49. 6 crore. “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. “An increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during the 2018 Assembly Elections in these five  states,” it further said. The ECI further said that the seizures included cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, all worth of crores, freebies and other items. “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 statement added. With inputs from agencies