Poll body makes seizures worth Rs 4,650 crore, highest-ever amount in history of Lok Sabha elections

The Election Commission on Monday said it has seized cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and other freebies worth Rs 4,650 crore since March 1, the highest-ever amount in the history of Lok Sabha polls.

Such seizures are made by the Election Commission in the run-up to elections with the help of enforcement agencies to monitor inducements, curb electoral malpractices and ensure a level playing field for parties.

The poll body said it had made seizures worth Rs 100 crore each day between March 1 and April 13, with the highest amounts seized from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

From Rajasthan, the poll body made seizures worth Rs 778.5 crore, while from Gujarat, seizures worth Rs 605.3 crore were made. This is followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 460.8 crore and Maharashtra at Rs 431.3 crore.

The most cash was seized from Tamil Nadu at Rs 53.5 crore, while the most liquor, worth Rs 124.3 crore, was seized from Karnataka. The most drugs, worth Rs 485.9 crore, were seized from Gujarat and the largest quantity of precious metals, worth Rs 78.7 crore, was seized from Tamil Nadu. The poll body seized the most numbers of assorted freebies and other items worth Rs 533.2 crore from Rajasthan.

“This marks a sharp increase over Rs 3,475 crores seized during the entire Lok Sabha election in 2019,” the Election Commission said. “Significantly, 45% of the seizures are of drugs and narcotics, that are under the special focus of the Commission.”

The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases between April 19 and June 1 and the results will be announced on June 4.