Rs 1,760 Cr Seized Across 5 Poll-Bound States, EC Says 7 Times More Than 2018 Polls

The EC said that it has seized over Rs 1,760 crores in the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram.

Assembly Elections 2023: The Election Commission of India said on Monday that it has seized over Rs 1,760 crores in the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram since the announcement of assembly elections in these five states. According to the EC, the amount seized during the assembly elections is more than 7 times the amount seized in previous assembly elections in these states in 2018. The poll watchdog said that during the previous elections, Rs 239.15 crore was seized from these states.

The highest cash was recovered in Telangana, where polls will be held on November 30. The election watchdog seized over Rs 659.2 crore, followed by Rajasthan with a seizure of Rs 650.7 crore, MP of Rs 323.7 crore, Chhattisgarh of Rs 76.9 crore, and Mizoram of Rs 49.6 crore. Notably, over Rs 1,400 crores were seized in the past six state assembly elections held in Gujarat, HP, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Karnataka, which is 11 times the previous assembly elections in these states, as per a statement by the EC.

"This time the Commission has also embedded technology into the monitoring process through the Election Expenditure Monitoring System (ESMS), which is proving to be a catalyst as it brought a wide array of central and state enforcement agencies together for better coordination and intelligence sharing," the statement read.

Last week on Friday, polling was held in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Voting in Madhya Pradesh concluded with a voter percentage of 74.31 percent, while Chhattisgarh saw a voting turnout of 70.60 till 5 PM on the 70 assembly seats that went to the polls in the second phase of the assembly election in the state, according to the Election Commission data.

The voting percentage in Madhya Pradesh till 5 pm was 71.16 per cent in all the 230 assembly seats that went to the polls on Friday. The voter turnout in the state was 45.40 per cent till 1 pm. Voting for the assembly seats had started at 7 am. Polling in the state will decide the electoral fates of 2,500 candidates.