2 weeks ago
Enforcement agencies have made a record seizure of more than Rs 4,650 crore — touching an all-time high in the history of Lok Sabha polls in India — in the Election Commission’s resolute fight against money power, even before the first phase of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha elections commences on Friday.
As per the poll body, this marks a sharp increase over Rs 3,475 crore seized during the entire Lok Sabha election in 2019.
The poll body managed to achieve the numbers with the help of the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) that allowed breaking of silos and bringing all enforcement agencies on one platform with the use of technology.
“With General Elections 2024 underway, ECI is on track for the highest-ever seizures of
inducements recorded in the 75-year history of Lok Sabha elections in the country,” EC said in a statement.
Significantly, 45 per cent of the seizures are of drugs and narcotics that are under the special focus of the commission. The seizures have been possible by comprehensive planning, scaled-up collaboration and unified deterrence action from agencies, proactive citizen participation and optimal engagement of technology, they said.
The EC numbers analysed by News18 show drugs have been the highest contributor in the seizure at Rs 2,068 crore, followed by freebies worth Rs 1,142 crore. At least 3.58 crore litres of liquor worth about Rs 490 crore has also been seized. Also part of the seizure were Rs 395 crore in cash and precious metals worth Rs 562 crore.
Among the states, the highest share was from Rajasthan (Rs 779 crore), Gujarat (605 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 431 crore).
In Rajasthan, the highest share of the amount was from freebies worth Rs 533 crore, followed by drugs worth Rs 120 crore. The poll body has also seized 37.98 lakh litres of liquor worth over Rs 41 crore. Drugs were the biggest contributors in the Gujarat and Maharashtra numbers — of the Rs 605 crore seized from Gujarat, Rs 486 crore were from drugs. In Maharashtra, Rs 214 crore out of Rs 431 crore was from drugs.
The ECI, in the statement, mentioned that there was a substantial focus on drug seizures, which accounted for approximately 75 per cent of the total seizures in January and February this year. It was a result of the increased focus on drug menace in society.
“CEC Rajiv Kumar had emphasised the importance of agencies’ efforts in seizing drugs and narcotics during his visits to nodal agencies. He highlighted that besides the risk of dirty money being used to influence elections, drugs pose a serious social menace with the potential to harm communities, particularly youth,” it added.
The commission has also collaborated with the Directorate General of the Narcotics Control Bureau and its senior officials to identify key routes and corridors for drug trafficking and ensure effective countermeasures are in place. Over the past few years, significant seizures have been made during elections to state assemblies, including during the operation of Model Code of Conduct in states like Gujarat, Punjab, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, and Mizoram.
The poll body also said that the use of black money, over and above political financing and accurate disclosure thereof, may disturb the level playing field in favour of more resourceful party or candidates in specific geographies.
“The seizures are a critical part of ECI’s resolve to conduct the Lok Sabha elections free of inducements and electoral malpractices and to ensure a level playing field,” the statement added.
CEC Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the polls last month, underlined money power as one of the ‘4M’ challenges before the poll body.
On April 12, the commission, led by Kumar, along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, reviewed all central observers deployed in the first phase on April 19. Tightening, monitoring and checking were amongst the focus of deliberations to ensure an inducement-free electoral process.
Role of ESMS
ESMS, EC’s in-house developed portal, has proved to be a catalyst in the monitoring process.
“The novel innovation for real time reporting of interceptions and seizures, avoiding duplication of seizures was tested in the last round of assembly elections.”
The portal facilitates digital trails and availability of seizure information on the click of a mouse, enabling quick and timely reviews at all controlling levels.
As per data, 6,398 district nodal officers of various agencies, 734 state nodal officers, 59,000 flying squads and Statics Surveillance Teams (SST) have been on boarded on ESMS platform for exhaustive real time monitoring and updates.
“All nodal officials have been trained on various aspects of using ESMS. The system took firm root during assembly elections in 2023, when Rs 2,014.26 crores was seized as against Rs 239.35 crores in the previous corresponding elections. With successful implementation and feedback from the field in the last round of assembly elections, it has been reviewed and made robust before implementation in ongoing elections,” the ECI said.
