Election-time seizures in this Lok Sabha polls will soon cross a staggering ₹9,000 crore, the highest in any elections so far, the Election Commission (EC) said on May 18.
The poll body said that agencies have made seizures worth ₹8,889 crore so far and at ₹3,958 crore, drugs amounted to 45% of the loot.
The seizures included ₹849.15 crore in cash, liquor worth ₹814.85 crore, drugs worth ₹3,958.85 crore and precious metals worth ₹1,260.33 crore. The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, Narcotics Control Bureau and the Indian Coast Guard, in joint operations, have made three high-value seizures of drugs in just three days, amounting to ₹892 crore, the EC said in a statement.
The Commission has laid special emphasis on seizure of narcotics and psychotropic substances. Analysis of data found that States or Union Territories that used to be transit zones were increasingly becoming consumption territories, the statement said.
Drugs, liquor, precious metals, freebies and cash influence elections in varying degrees, some flowing directly as inducements while others through reduced levels of circulation of money, the poll body said.
The Commission had said last month that even before polling began for the Lok Sabha elections, it had seized ₹4,650 crore, an amount higher than that recovered in the 2019 elections (₹3,475 crore).
