New Delhi, 11 November: A record number of seizures have been made during the ongoing assembly elections in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh due to the active involvement of the Election Commission of India and security agencies. So far, cash, liquor, drugs, valuables, free facilities worth ?Rs 50.28 crore have been seized in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 71.88 crore in Gujarat.
Announcing the dates for the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar stressed on the need for inducement-free elections and cited the example of the massive recovery of cash.
As part of this campaign, within a few days of the announcement of elections, Rs 71.88 crore was recovered in Gujarat, which is more than the recovery of Rs 27.21 crore during the entire period of the model code of conduct for the 2017 assembly elections. Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh also, seizures of Rs 50.28 crore were made during this period, which is more than five times as compared to Rs 9.03 crore in 2017.
The commission says that if citizens become alert and start using the cvigil app on a large scale, then the goal of banning the use of money and force in elections can be achieved.
The seizures made in Himachal Pradesh include cash worth Rs 17.18 crore, 9,72,818.24 litres liquor worth Rs 17.50 crore, drugs worth Rs 1.2 crore, valuables worth rs 13.99 crore, offer of free facilities worth Rs 41 lakhs. The seizures made in Gujarat include cash worth Rs 66 lakh, 1,09,189.19 liters liquor worth Rs 3.86 crore, drugs worth ?94 lakhs, valuables worth ?1.86 crore, offer of free facilities worth ?64.56 crore.
