Highest seizures in Telangana at Rs 659.2 crores among 5 poll-bound states; total tally at Rs 1,760 crores

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) said that Rs 659.2 crores is the total worth of poll-related seizures in Telangana so far, which is the highest among the five states – Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana – headed for State Assembly elections in 2023.

The total worth of seizures, which include freebies, cash, drugs and other poll-related illegal handouts, in the five states is over Rs 1,760 crores, since the announcement of the elections on October 9. The amount is more than seven times (Rs 239.15 crores) the seizures made in previous Assembly Elections in these states in 2018.

The commission said the figures for seizures are expected to rise.

It may be recalled that seizures of over Rs 1,400 crores were done in the past six State Assembly elections held in Gujarat, HP, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Karnataka which is 11 times the amount seized in the previous Assembly elections in these states.

Latest tech aided surveillance

For the ensuing elections, the ECI has embedded technology into the monitoring process through the Election Expenditure Monitoring System (ESMS) which has proven to be a catalyst for removing tainted money from the election procedures. The ECI said that the latest surveillance technology has brought a wide array of Central and State enforcement agencies together for better coordination and intelligence sharing.

While Assembly polls have already been held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, voting will take place in Rajasthan and Telangana on November 25 and November 30 respectively.

As per reports received from the poll-going states, here are the seizures made after the announcement of elections till November 20: