ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110001
No. ECI/PN/162/2024 18.11.2024
Press Note
EC’s crackdown on inducements; seizures cross Rs.1000 Cr in ongoing elections
Seven times higher seizures in Maharashtra and Jharkhand from 2019
Officials to maintain strict vigil on inducements over next two days: CEC
Enforcement Agencies under the Election Commission have seized over Rs.1000 crore
worth of cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and other inducements in the ongoing elections
to the State Legislative Assemblies of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and bye-polls.
Overall Rs 858 crores worth of seizures have been reported for the states of
Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which is 7 times the seizures done during the assembly
elections in 2019. In 2019 Assembly elections, Maharashtra recorded seizures worth
Rs. 103.61 crores while for Jharkhand it was Rs. 18.76 crores.
State Cash Liquor (Rs. Drugs (Rs. Precious Freebies Total (Rs.
(Rs. Crore) Crore) Metals (Rs. Crore)
crore) (Rs. Crore) Crore)
Maharashtra 153.48 71.13 72.14 282.49 80.94 660.18
Jharkhand 14.84 7.84 14.84 8.38 152.22 198.12
By Polls- 14 13.65 40.86 36.59 11.21 121.60 223.91
States
Total 181.97 119.83 123.57 302.08 354.76 1082.2
The Commission led by CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Sh. Gyanesh Kumar and
Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu during the review meetings with enforcement agencies,
central observers briefing and senior officials from neighbouring states had
consistently conveyed curbing the role of money power in the elections resulting in
increased volume of seizures. CEC Rajiv Kumar has directed all officials including
CEO, DEOs, SPs and Observers to continue strict watch over next two days and curb
distribution of any inducements till polling is complete.
In Maharashtra, seizures were recorded in all cohorts across all districts, much higher
than previous assembly elections. A few noteworthy operations included seizure of
Rs. 3.70 crores of cash from a suspicious Jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar
District. In another noteworthy incident, in Jamod AC of Buldhana district, 4500 kg of
Ganja plants worth Rs 4.51 crores were seized. In Raigad, Rs. 5.20 crores worth of
silver bars were seized.
Silver bars and Gold seized in Raigarh district; Heavy cash seized in Hingoli district
Liquor consignment worth Rs 1.02 cr seized in coastal belt of Ratnagiri
Jharkhand also witnessed record seizures and this time focus was also to curb illicit
mining activities which resulted in seizures of illegal mining materials and machines
involved. In a single incident, Rs. 2.26 crores worth of illegal mining material was
seized in Rajmahal AC in Sahibganj district and many such actions included seizures
related to illegal mining activities. Another focus area was to have strict vigil over
drugs movement from neighbouring state. In Daltonganj, 687 kg of Poppy straw was
seized, while in Hazaribagh 48.18 Kg of Marijuana was seized.
Seized illegal mining equipment in Sahibganj district
824 Kg of opium poppy straw consignment in sacks seized from Khunti district
Even in bye-elections, tightened vigil has resulted in significant seizures in all
cohorts. Amongst big seizure incidents, in Rajasthan, 449 cartons of liquor
consignment was seized at Nagaur while in transit from one neighbouring state to
another. The cartons were hidden behind many layers of boxes of potatoes.
Liquor and drugs enroute neighbouring state intercepted and seized in Nagaur, Rajasthan
Background:
The surge in seizures involves an extensive monitoring process, which starts months
before the announcement of elections. It included an array of activities like
sensitising and reviewing enforcement agencies for more coordinated and
comprehensive monitoring, marking of expenditure sensitive constituencies, ensuring
adequate field teams, training on expenditure monitoring systems and appointment
of experienced officers as Expenditure Observers. Information Technology is also
heavily used through inhouse software ESMS (Election Seizure Management System)
for real-time monitoring and sharing of information amongst multiple agencies for a
wider deterrence.
Anuj Chandak
Joint Director
