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In the five poll-bound states, election-related seizures, ranging from cash to liquor to narcotics, have more than tripled this time as compared to the 2018 Assembly elections.
According to the Election Commission (EC) officials, Rs 953.34 crore in cash and other “poll inducements” have been seized so far from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force on October 9. Apart from cash, these seizures include jewellery, precious metals, liquor, drugs, gadgets and household items.
In contrast, over the entire 2018 poll campaign period in these states, seizures worth a total of Rs 288.58 crore were made. The poll seizures this time have thus already risen by more than Rs 660 crore as compared to the previous polls, even as the campaigning will continue through this month in most of these states.
While Mizoram and Chhattisgarh’s first-phase seats go to polls on November 7, the second-phase constituencies of Chhattisgarh are scheduled for polls along with Madhya Pradesh on November 17. Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls on November 25 and November 30, respectively.
Officials in Chhattisgarh have so far seized Rs 38.34 crore in cash and other items, as of October 31, since the MCC was enforced.
Among the recovered items are Rs 10.11 crore in cash, nearly 31,000 litres of illicit liquor worth Rs 90.87 lakh, and 184 kg of ornaments and precious stones worth Rs 14.82 crore. The state has deployed “flying squads”, including personnel from the excise, police and income tax (I-T) departments, to track election contraband.
On November 2, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized Rs 5 crore in cash from Raipur and Bhilai linked to the Mahadev online betting app, which is among several cases being investigated by the central agency in the state. The ED is expected to send a report on the seizure to the EC.
In the 2018 polls, such seizures amounted to Rs 11.85 crore across the entire campaigning period, including Rs 4.47 core in cash, Rs 1.3 crore in liquor, and Rs 5.77 crore in items like laptops, vehicles, pressure cookers and other things. Already this year’s seizures are more than three times higher than during the last polls.
As of November 1, Madhya Pradesh has racked up poll seizures of more than Rs 226 crore since October 9. The seizures were made through joint efforts of the state’s Flying Surveillance Team, Static Surveillance Team and the police.
The recovered contraband includes Rs 25.05 in cash, illicit liquor worth Rs 36.99 crore, Rs 11.7 crore in narcotics, and precious metals worth Rs 75.06 crore, as per the state poll body.
In the 2018 polls, the total seizures amounted to Rs 72.93 crore. The 2023 seizures so far are thus three times higher than those made in 2018.
Last month, the BJP’s state unit chief V D Sharma alleged that Rs 42 crore recovered in an I-T raid in Karnataka was intended to be spent in the poll-bound states by the Congress, which is in power in Karnataka. Congress spokesperson K K Mishra rejected the charges, saying similar links could be made for recent drug seizures in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.
More than Rs 36 crore has been seized in Mizoram as of October 25, as per state election officials. The state has stood out in terms of the contraband recovered, which includes only about Rs 8,000 in cash and largely involves drugs and liquor.
Officials have found Rs 19 crore in heroin, Rs 4.28 crore in methamphetamine and Rs 57 lakh in poppy seeds, aside from Rs 8.84 crore in cigarettes and Rs 1.16 crore in liquor. Incidentally, Mizoram is a dry state, with prohibition in effect since 2019, though a local variety of wine has been excluded from this ban since August.
The drug seizures, in particular, have been attributed to the state’s proximity to Myanmar, which falls in the “Golden Triangle” drug trade route that includes Thailand and Laos. An official said smuggling through Mizoram has spiked recently following the ethnic violence in Manipur, which also shares borders with Myanmar.
The seizures have almost doubled since the 2018 polls, when about Rs 19 crore in contraband was recovered from the state.
As per the latest report from officials in Rajasthan on October 28, the state has seized about Rs 214 crore in cash and other inducements since the MCC was enforced.
The recovered contraband includes Rs 25 crore in cash, Rs 20 crore in liquor, Rs 20 crore in gold, and Rs 60 crore in drugs. Other items like petrol, diesel and fertilisers have also been recovered.
The Rajasthan Police has constituted a special team called ‘STORM CLUB’ (Supervision, Tracking, Operation, Recordkeeping, Monitoring, Control and Command, Liaison and Unified Base) to track and seize contraband during the campaigning. As many as 650 checkpoints have been set up across the state and are being monitored from a centralised “war room”.
In the 2018 polls, the total seizures amounted to Rs 65 crore. This time, seizures have almost tripled.
During this year the seizures of unaccounted cash, liquor, drugs and precious metals by the state police, excise, I-T and other agencies have hit Rs 1,021 crore as against Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 322 crore in 2021.
In Telangana, officials have so far seized Rs 439 crore in poll contraband as of November 2, with nearly a month left to go before voting.
Officials have recovered Rs 156 crore in cash, more than 1,300 kg of gold, silver and other metals worth Rs 165.2 crore, Rs 49.4 crore in liquor, and Rs 24.7 crore in marijuana since October 9, as per the state election commission.
Among the agencies that have been deployed is the I-T department, which has formed Quick Response Teams in all 33 districts in the state with Air Intelligence Units at two airports in Hyderabad.
In 2018, Rs 137 crore in contraband was seized over the course of the elections, including Rs 125 crore in cash. So, in Telangana too, poll-related seizures are up by more than three times this time.
