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The Election Commision of India (ECI) on Monday said that poll officials have reported a seizure of over Rs 1760 crores in five poll-going states since the announcement of the elections, an increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during previous elections in these five states.
Five polling States are Mizoram, Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. "Seizures over Rs 1760 crores have been reported in the five poll-going states since the announcement of the elections, which is more than 7 times (Rs 239.15 cr) the seizures made in previous Assembly Elections in these States in 2018," the poll body said in a statement on Monday. Telangana which is going to polls on November 30 reported the highest cash seizure of 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, as per the data shared by the poll body. It may be recalled that seizures of over Rs 1400 crores were done 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 the Statement. "An increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during the 2018 Assembly Elections in these 5 states," it said. The ECI further said that the seizures included cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, all worth of crores, freebies and other items. "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 added. (ANI)
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