Assembly Elections 2024 | Rs 558 crore worth of seizures made in poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand

New Delhi: Election Commission has seized cash, freebies and liquor among other things worth Rs 558 crore -- 3.5 times more than what was seized five years ago -- from poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well as from 14 states where bypolls are scheduled.

Of this, Maharashtra alone accounted for Rs 281.93 crore while Jharkhand saw seizure of cash and other items worth Rs 158.97 crore.

From 14 states where bypolls are scheduled, Rs 118.01 crore worth cash and other items were seized.

"Combined seizures in the two poll bound states mark a 3.5 time increase as compared to Assembly Election in 2019 when Maharashtra recorded seizures worth Rs. 103.61 crore while for Jharkhand it was Rs 18.76 crore," the EC said.

An analysis showed freebies accounted for around 40% or Rs 241.02 crore of the seizures. Jharkhand saw the highest amount of freebies worth Rs 127.88 crore seized while in Maharashtra, it was articles worth Rs 42.55 crore. The bypoll-bound states had Rs 70.59 crore worth freebies seized.

Precious metals worth Rs 104.18 crore were also seized from these places after the election was announced in mid-October. Maharashtra had the highest amount of such seizure at Rs 90.53 crore and Jharkhand Rs 4.22 crore.

A total of Rs 92.47 crore in cash were also seized of which Maharashtra topped the list with Rs 73.11 crore followed by Jharkhand Rs 10.46 crore and the bypoll-bound states Rs 8.9 crore.

Liquor worth Rs 52.76 crore and drugs worth Rs 68.22 crore were also seized during this period with Maharashtra topping the list with seizures of Rs 37.98 crore and Rs 37.76 crore respectively. Jharkhand had Rs 7.15 crore and Rs 8.99 crore seizures in these counts.

During a recent meeting with top officials of states and enforcement agencies of the two polls going states and their neighbours, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar while had stressed on close vigil on movements across interstate borders and directed them to establish backward linkages of seizures for a wider deterrence.

Regular follow-ups and reviews with each district, use of information technology and precise data interpretation and active participation of enforcement agencies now have led to this significant spurt in seizures, an EC statement said.

"Real time reporting of interceptions and seizures with the ECI’s Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) has led to regular and precise reviews on expenditure monitoring by Commission and agencies themselves. Closer vigil is also kept in 110 Assembly Constituencies in the two states (Maharashtra -91 & Jharkhand -19) Constituencies which are marked as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies for more focussed vigil," it added.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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