Assembly Elections 2026 | Cash, liquor, freebies worth Rs 1,444 crore seized in 5 election states; TN tops list

New Delhi: Cash, liquor and freebies among others worth Rs 1,444.96 crore were seized between February 26 and May 6 in four states and one union territory that went to Assembly elections, a rise of 40.14% compared to 2021 when seizures amounting to Rs 1029.93 crore.

Among the states, the highest seizure was recorded from Tamil Nadu where Rs 662.28 crore worth cash and articles were seized followed by West Bengal where it was Rs 573.41 crore. Assam saw seizures worth Rs 117.24 crore while it was Rs 80.67 crore in Kerala and Rs 9.72 crore in Puducherry.

West Bengal saw the highest increase in the seizures at 68.92% while it was 48.4% in Tamil Nadu compared to corresponding figures during the 2021 polls.

With Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in operation in these states and union territory except in Falta constituency in West Bengal, the statistics showed that cash worth Rs 154.89 crore were seized in 39 days after the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) was activated.

When it comes to liquor, 69.88 lakh litres worth Rs 183.33 crore were seized while drug seizure accounted for Rs 337.88 crore, precious metals Rs 250.14 crore and freebies Rs 518.73 crore.

The highest amount of liquor – 58.58 lakh litre worth Rs 151.86 crore – was seized in Bengal while Assam was a distant 8.28 lakh litre worth Rs 22.71 crore and Tamil Nadu – 1.37 lakh litre worth Rs 4.94 crore. 

Kerala saw 78,215.3 litres of liquor worth Rs 2.51 crore and Puducherry 18,340.35 litres worth Rs 39 lakh were recovered.

Tamil Nadu saw the highest recovery of cash at Rs 105.22 crore followed by West Bengal Rs 31.14 crore Kerala Rs 12.12 crore, Assam Rs 6.07 crore and Puducherry Rs 33 lakh. 

Tamil Nadu topped the list of seizure of freebies at Rs 307.65 crore followed by West Bengal Rs 190.77 crore, Assam Rs 14.7 crore, Kerala 5.23 crore and Puducherry Rs two lakh.

Drug recovery in West Bengal was the highest at Rs 130.28 crore followed by Tamil Nadu Rs 78.61 crore, Assam Rs 70.08 crore and Kerala Rs 2.25 crore. There was no drug recovery in Puducherry during this period.

Precious metals worth Rs 165.86 crore were seized in Tamil Nadu while it was Rs 69.36 in West Bengal. Rs 3.68 crore in Assam, Rs 2.25 crore in Kerala and Rs 8.99 crore in Puducherry.

During the conduct of elections, the EC said it held multiple review meetings with the Chief Secretaries, Chief Electoral Officers, Directors General of Police and senior officers from the poll-going states and union territories and their neighbours along with the heads of enforcement agencies. 

It said 376 Expenditure Observers drawn from IRS (IT), IRS (C&IT), IA&AS, IRAS, IDAS, IP&TAFS and ICAS, 7,470 Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) and 7,470 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) were also deployed to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement-free elections.