Assembly Elections 2024 | More than Rs 1,000 crore worth of seizures so far, seven times higher than 2019 from poll-bound Maharashtra, Jharkhand

New Delhi: Election Commission has seized cash, freebies and liquor among other things worth Rs 1,082.2 crore so far from poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well as from 14 states where bypolls are scheduled.

The seizures from Maharashtra and Jharkhand were seven times more than what was seized five years ago.

What poll officials seized in various places included 449 cartons of liquor hidden behind boxes of potatoes in Rajasthan's Nagaur, silver bars worth Rs 5.20 crore in Maharashtra and illegal mining materials worth Rs 2.26 crore from Jharkhand's Rajmahal. Also, 687 kg of poppy straw from Daltonganj and 48.18 kg of marijuana from Hazaribagh, both in Jharkhand.

Of the total seizures since the announcement of election on October 16, Maharashtra alone accounted for Rs 660.18 crore as against Rs 103.61 crore in 2019 while Jharkhand saw seizure of cash and other items worth Rs 198.12 crore as against Rs 18.76 crore.

From 14 states where bypolls are scheduled, Rs 223.91 crore worth cash and other items were seized.

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An analysis showed freebies accounted for around 33% or Rs 354.76 crore of the seizures. Jharkhand saw the highest amount of freebies worth Rs 152.22 crore seized while in Maharashtra, it was articles worth Rs 80.94 crore. The bypoll-bound states had Rs 121.60 crore worth freebies seized.

Precious metals worth Rs 302.08 crore were also seized from these places after the election was announced in mid-October. Maharashtra had the highest amount of such seizure at Rs 282.49 crore and Jharkhand Rs 8.38 crore.

A total of Rs 181.97 crore in cash were also seized of which Maharashtra topped the list with Rs 153.48 crore followed by Jharkhand Rs 14.84 crore and the bypoll-bound states Rs 13.65 crore.

Liquor worth Rs 119.83 crore and drugs worth Rs 123.57 crore were also seized during this period with Maharashtra topping the list with seizures of Rs 71.13 crore and Rs 72.14 crore respectively. Jharkhand had Rs 7.84 crore and Rs 14.84 crore seizures in these counts.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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