<p>More than 1,400 cases of alleged paid news have been detected by the Election Commission in the last four years during Assembly polls held in 17 states.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The maximum of 523 cases were detected during Assembly polls in Punjab last year, followed by Gujarat - 414, Himachal Pradesh - 104 and Karnataka - 93 (this year), according to official data.<br /><br />There have been 97 such cases hat were reported in Uttar Pradesh, while 30 instances of paid news were detected in Uttarakhand and nine in Goa.<br /><br />In the states which went to polls in 2011, Kerala had 65 such cases, Assam - 27, Tamil Nadu - 22, West Bengal - eight and Puducherry - three. In Bihar, during Assembly polls of 2010, 15 such instances were detected. Except for Assam, none of the north-eastern states reported any instance of paid news and there were no cases registered in Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur.<br /><br />The total cases detected were 1,410 since 2010 till the Karnataka elections this year.<br />A number of candidates were issued showcause notices after these instances were reported and the EC is adjudicating these cases. The EC has created an exclusive wing — Election Expenditure Monitoring cell — to monitor cases of paid news.</p>
<p>More than 1,400 cases of alleged paid news have been detected by the Election Commission in the last four years during Assembly polls held in 17 states.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The maximum of 523 cases were detected during Assembly polls in Punjab last year, followed by Gujarat - 414, Himachal Pradesh - 104 and Karnataka - 93 (this year), according to official data.<br /><br />There have been 97 such cases hat were reported in Uttar Pradesh, while 30 instances of paid news were detected in Uttarakhand and nine in Goa.<br /><br />In the states which went to polls in 2011, Kerala had 65 such cases, Assam - 27, Tamil Nadu - 22, West Bengal - eight and Puducherry - three. In Bihar, during Assembly polls of 2010, 15 such instances were detected. Except for Assam, none of the north-eastern states reported any instance of paid news and there were no cases registered in Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur.<br /><br />The total cases detected were 1,410 since 2010 till the Karnataka elections this year.<br />A number of candidates were issued showcause notices after these instances were reported and the EC is adjudicating these cases. The EC has created an exclusive wing — Election Expenditure Monitoring cell — to monitor cases of paid news.</p>