Bihar Assembly Elections 2024: Cash, drugs, liquor and freebies worth Rs 34 crore seized in poll-bound state

The poll body has already instructed enforcement agencies to prevent the use of money power in upcoming elections.

New Delhi: Enforcement agencies have seized cash, drugs, liquor and freebies worth Rs 33.97 crore in Bihar in the past nine days after elections were announced in the states, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.

The poll body has already instructed enforcement agencies to prevent the use of money power in upcoming Bihar elections while stressing that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection.

The public can also complain regarding any such violations through the C-Vigil App.

Expenditure observers have already been deployed to monitor the election expenses incurred by the candidates and have reached their respective constituencies on the day the notifications for the two phases were issued. During the visit, they will meet all the teams engaged in expenditure monitoring.

In order to curb the use of money power, freebies as well as drugs, narcotics and liquor in the elections, the poll body has issued directions to police, excise department, Income Tax Department, Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND), RBI, DRI, CGST, SGST, Customs, ED, NCB, RPF, CISF, SSB, BCAS, AAI, Department of Post, State Forest Dept and State Co-operative Department among others.

Flying Squads, surveillance teams, video surveillance teams will be vigilant round- the-clock to monitor any suspected instances of money power or other inducements being used to sway the voters, the EC said.

It has also activated the online system called Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) for reporting of interceptions and seizures made by surveillance teams and enforcement agencies on a real-time basis during the election period.

On Tuesday, the EC warned that bulk text messages (SMS) and audio messages during the 48-hour 'silence period' are prohibited. It also said political advertisements on any election matter in TV, cable networks, radio, cinema halls, use of bulk SMS/voice messages, audio visual displays in any polling area during the period of 48 hours in the polling area is prohibited.

The poll body had earlier issued orders requiring every registered party and every contesting candidate to apply to the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) for pre-certification of all political advertisements on electronic media, including social media before publication.