Election Commission broke 75 years record! Rs 4,650 crore seized in view of elections

Campaigning for Lok Sabha elections 2024 is going on in full swing. Voting will take place in 7 phases across the country. Its first phase is going to start from 19th April. Like every election, this time too the Election Commission showed promptness and seized the largest amount of illegal money in its 75 year history. The Election Commission of India on Monday announced a record number of votes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Cash, drugs, liquor, precious metals and freebies worth Rs 4,650 crore were seized between March 1 and April 13. This is 34 per cent more than the Rs 3,475 crore seized during the entire 2019 election campaign. Compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the current exports have witnessed a significant growth across all categories. Cash seizures increased by 114 per cent, while liquor and precious metal seizures increased by 61 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. A huge increase of 62 percent was seen in pharmaceutical exports, which stood at Rs 2,068 crore.

Ahead of the start of the first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections on Friday, a record amount of over Rs 4,650 crore has been seized by enforcement agencies in the ECI's determined fight against money power, the Election Commission said in a statement. The Commission attributed the increase in enforcement to the deployment of technological technologies such as the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) and collaboration of multiple enforcement agencies at both the Central and State levels.

The Election Commission has identified 123 parliamentary constituencies as expenditure-sensitive and has intensified vigilance efforts by deploying 781 expenditure monitors to keep an eye on them. Besides this, it has taken strict action against 106 government employees who were assisting politicians in campaigning in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The Election Commission said that vigilance efforts have been going on since the beginning of the year. A total of Rs 7,502 crore in cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies were seized across the country in January and February. With this, the total seizure so far has exceeded Rs 12,000 crore. Whereas there are still six weeks left in the election period.