The Election Commission on Friday said authorities in the five States where elections are ongoing had seized cash, drugs, liquor, precious metals and other freebies worth ₹1,018.20 crore so far.
The amount of inducements seized after the announcement of polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab in January till Friday was over three times as much as the total amount seized during the 2017 polls. While polling in Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand has been completed, polling in U.P. and Manipur is still scheduled.
Authorities in Goa seized inducements worth ₹12.73 crore, of which ₹6.66 crore was in cash. In Manipur, where the first phase of polling was held on Friday, authorities had seized ₹167.83 crore worth of inducements, of which drugs worth ₹143.47 crore had the biggest share.
In Punjab, out of a total of ₹510.91 crore seized, drugs accounted for ₹376.19 crore of the value. Uttarakhand authorities seized inducements of ₹18.81 crore. In U.P., a total of ₹307.92 crore worth of seizures had been made as of Friday, with ₹91.30 crore in cash, ₹54.08 crore worth of liquor and ₹43.19 crore worth of drugs.
“The efforts on close monitoring will further continue till completion of the ongoing elections,” the EC said.
