The slew of measures including strict vigilance and stringent actions by the election authorities and the enforcement agencies appear to have fallen short to check the Illegal distribution of money among voters ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections slated for May 13 if sources are to be believed. They say political parties are distributing money “openly in broad daylight” in villages and towns this time.
The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are a ‘do or die’ situation for many political leaders in Andhra Pradesh. Several candidates of the YSR Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are said to be spending crores of rupees to win the seats at any cost. Sources say that the party cadres are distributing ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per voter and the government employees on poll duty who exercised their franchise through postal ballots got ₹5,000 to ₹6,000 each.
“The employees’ unions have demanded ₹6,000 per person to support our party. Even the Resident Welfare Associations have also sought lump-sum amounts”Leader of a political party
The leaders of employees’ unions are said to have played a key role in the distribution of money. “The employees’ unions have demanded ₹6,000 per person to support our party. Even the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have also sought lump-sum amounts,” said a leader of a political party leader on condition of anonymity.
Several members of RWAs say that the funds received from the political parties were spent on improving the amenities on their premises.
Meanwhile, some middlemen are reportedly arranging transportation facilities to ferry voters to the polling stations on May 13. Some party workers are transferring money to voters through UPI transactions, say sources.
Recently, the Darsi police have detained two persons—one from the YSRCP and another from the TDP– on charges of transferring money to government employees through UPI apps ahead of the voting through postal ballots at Veligandla and Kothapalem villages in Prakasam district. Cases have been registered against them.
Recently, there was a clash between the YSRCP and TDP cadres over the distribution of money to voters in Mahatma Gandhi Nagar of Nellore. Though no one was injured in this incident, it tells it all about the illegal distribution of money this election season.
Cases registered
“At least six cases related to the distribution of cash for votes have been registered in the district. As soon as we receive information about these illegal disbursements, we conduct raids and the miscreants are detained. So far, we have not received any complaints about online money transfers. We will take immediate action in case we get any such complaint,” said Nellore Superintendent of Police K. Arif Hafeez.
He said that around ₹5.53 crore in cash and other items had been seized in the district since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
As per the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) data, ₹2.57 crore of cash, liquor worth ₹1.77 crore, ₹88.62 lakh worth gold and other metals, and freebies worth ₹1.77 lakh have been seized in Nellore district.
