Friday 17 / January / 2025
New Delhi: Illegal cash of over Rs600 million has been confiscated from the five states facing Assembly polls, with south Indian state of Tamil Nadu leading the list with seizures of Rs245.5 million.
Even as polls have concluded in north-east Indian state of Assam and the second phase of voting is being held in east Indian state of West Bengal on Sunday, the Election Commission (EC)-appointed surveillance teams are taking action.
The north-eastern state is still ranking second in the tally with Rs123.3 million having been seized there.
In West Bengal, the figure stands at about IRs121.4 million, while Rs104.1 million has been seized in south Indian state of Kerala.
Puducherry has seen seizures of about Rs6.88 million, the latest EC data said.
The cash seizures were made by EC-appointed special flying squads and surveillance teams and by officials drawn from the Income Tax Department. "The total progressive figure of seizures made till now is about Rs 600.3 million.
Some cash has been released after seizures in West Bengal and the figures have been compiled after excluding that. Polls in Assam are over now," a senior official said.
The Model Code of Conduct for these polls came into force on March 4 after EC announced the schedule for the Assembly polls in five states.
The first phase of polling was held on April 4 in Assam and West Bengal while the second part of that phase was conducted on April 11.
Three more phases of polls are due in West Bengal. Elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be held in a single phase on May 16.
EC, as part of its measures to curb the use of black money in the polls, has deployed expenditure observers drawn from central revenue services like Income Tax and the Customs and Excise departments. To keep a tab on the huge cash expenditure during polls, EC has also asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Customs and Excise department and state police units to keep a strict vigil.
