Agencies under Election Commission have seized Rs 558 crore worth of cash, freebies, liquor, drugs, and precious metals to stop any inducement of voters in ongoing elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and by polls. Operations in the state of Maharashtra alone has yielded about Rs. 280 crores since the announcement of elections. Another Rs. 158 crores worth of seizures from Jharkhand so far.

Combined seizures in the two poll bound states mark a 3.5 time increase as compared to Assembly Election in 2019 when Maharashtra recorded seizures worth Rs. 103.61 crores while for Jharkhand it was Rs. 18.76 crores. The following table gives the details of seizures with freebies accounting for more than 40%.

*Seizures As on 06.11.2024

CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar had earlier directed all officials on ‘Zero Tolerance’ of the Commission towards any kind of inducements in elections. He also asked for joint teams from multiple agencies for clampdown on distribution and movement of illicit liquor, drugs, freebies, and cash. Recently, during a meeting with CS, DGP, Excise Commissioners and enforcement agencies of the 2 polls going States and their neighboring States and UTs, Shri Rajiv Kumar while stressed on close vigil on movements across inter-state borders, also directed agencies to establish backward linkages of seizures for a wider deterrence.

Liquor seized in Garhwa district in Jharkhand and Drug Ephedrine worth Rs.1.32 Crores seized by Crime Branch, Akola District police

Background

Regular follow-ups and reviews with each district, use of information technology & precise data interpretation and active participation of enforcement agencies now have led to this significant spurt in seizures. Real time reporting of interceptions and seizures with the ECI’s Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) has led to regular and precise reviews on expenditure monitoring by Commission and agencies themselves. Closer vigil is also kept in 110 Assembly Constituencies in the two states (Maharashtra -91 & Jharkhand -19) Constituencies which are marked as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies for more focused vigil.

The Commission’s cVIGIL App has also been an effective tool in the hands of citizens to flag election code violations. Since the announcement of the assembly elections and the by polls, 9681 complaints have been resolved through cVigil App as of today. The disposal rate of the complaint has been over 98% with over 83% of the complaints being resolved in under 100 minutes. The cVigil is user-friendly and easy to operate application, which connects vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer and Flying Squads Teams. By using this app, the citizens can immediately report on incidents of any election related violations and action is taken within a 100 minutes timeline.

While adopting a stringent approach against inducements to sway voters, the Commission has ensured that legitimate requests of political parties are responded to transparently for a level playing field. In this regard, the SUVIDHA app has assisted political parties and candidates significantly. 18,045 campaign related requests were approved in the ongoing elections including 8546 from Maharashtra and 6317 from Jharkhand. The Commission also has upgraded its SUVIDHA app empowering parties and candidates to apply for campaign related permissions through SUVIDHA mobile app also, which was earlier possible only through web portal.