In five states where elections are taking place, huge amount of money is being seized. The EC has made it clear that cash, liquor, valuable jewelery and drugs worth Rs.1,760 crores have been seized in five states so far. Since the release of the schedule on October 9, large amounts of cash, liquor, drugs and other items have been seized in five states, it said. In 2018, assets worth Rs.239 crore were seized in these states… this time it has increased by 7 percent.
Officials seized Rs.225 crore in cash, the highest in Telangana. Authorities have seized liquor worth Rs.86 crore, drugs worth Rs.1.3 crore, goods worth Rs.191 crore and gifts and freebies worth Rs.52 crore. In total, property worth Rs.659 crore has been seized in Telangana so far.
Rajasthan is next. The authorities seized a total of Rs 650 crore worth of property including Rs 93 crore in cash in this state. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh stood at the next positions respectively. In Madhya Pradesh, Rs.33 crores in cash and Rs.20 crores in Chhattisgarh were seized, but no cash was seized in Mizoram.
Elections in five states have already ended in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, while polling will be held in Rajasthan on November 25 and Telangana on November 30. The EC said that the Election Commission has set up the Election Expenditure Monitoring System-ESMS to curb money flow and temptations in elections. A total of 228 officers have been appointed as expenditure inspectors in this election.
