This summer, politicians 'fan' flames of loyalty

Freebies and elections go hand in hand. But as the Lok Sabha polls are fought during a gruelling summer, there seems to be a greater demand for ceiling fans.

Evidently, fans form the highest seizure of household appliances by the flying squads of the Election Commission, followed by mixer grinders and clothes.

As many as 1,644 ceiling fans and 610 mixer grinders worth Rs 17,45,000 have been seized so far. The seizure also includes textiles worth Rs 3.5 lakh.

“Summer could be one of the reasons why political parties have opted to offer fans as freebies. They used to distribute appliances such as cookers, iron boxes etc during elections in the past. But this time, we have not seen any of those,” said a top BBMP official.

Tighter surveillance

To curb transportation of unauthorised goods during the polls, static surveillance teams have inspected around 2,22,393 vehicles, including cars, trucks and buses, in all the three Lok Sabha constituencies. Goods worth Rs 23,09,300 have been seized so far.

The seizures

A total of Rs 13,91,000 in cash was seized from vehicles in Bangalore North constituency so far by the surveillance teams, while Rs 1,87,92,370 was seized from Bangalore South and Rs 1,19,06,004 from Bangalore North.

“We are keeping a strict check on all the vehicles. There are still chances of more goods and cash being seized until the polls are over,” the official said.

Up to 1,31,644 litres of liquor have also been seized from all the constituencies so far, the official added.