Election Commission seized cash, metals, narcotics worth Rs 176 crore in Andhra since Jan 1
Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena today said the Election Commission seized cash, precious metals, narcotics and others worth Rs 176 crore since January 1 in the run-up to the simultaneous Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
The CEO noted that of the seizures, cash amounted to Rs 78 crore, precious metals Rs 41 crore and narcotics Rs 30 crore.
"In the past three days since the announcement of the poll schedule, we have seized cash, liquor, drugs and freebies worth Rs 3.39 crore," said Mr Meena, addressing a press conference at the secretariat.
Of the seizures worth Rs 3.39 crore, he said liquor amounted to Rs 1.6 crore, cash Rs 80 lakh and the balance, drugs and freebies.
Mr Meena also said that the Election Commission is taking stock of liquor production and storage with respect to manufacturers, warehouses and retailers from the Excise Department on a daily basis to compare their trends with the same day of the previous year.
According to the Election Commission guidelines, the CEO said that if the liquor production and storage levels are roughly the same as the previous year on this day, then it can be inferred that liquor is not being used to influence voters.
"So, we get the report from the Excise Department everyday and until today there is no deviation. The stock and sale are lower than this day last year," he said.
With Model Code of Conduct (MCC) kicking off on the election schedule announcement day, the CEO said two lakh political posters, banners and hoardings were removed from public places in the past three days.
The authority has also removed 1.5 lakh pieces of such material from private places. The CEO's office receives daily reports on these numbers from the district collectors' offices. Mr Meena said these numbers may increase in the future.
Similarly, 94 cases were booked against defacement of property and 37 on misuse of vehicles, violations pertaining to loudspeakers, illegal meetings and inducements. In total, 385 cases were booked in the past three days which include MCC violations, seizures and others.
Mr Meena also said that the Election Commission has received 1,307 complaints against violations through the CVigil app and 74 percent of all those cases were resolved within 100 minutes, except 40. He said the ECI aims to resolve 95 percent of all the CVigil complaints within 100 minutes.
The official also said that the Election Commission is receiving many complaints against government employees for allegedly campaigning in the polls. Complaints were also received against contract employees and volunteers.
Until Tuesday, he said action was taken against 46 persons, who included volunteers, contract employees and government employees. In the case of regular employees, he said that they will be suspended while volunteers and contract employees will be outrightly dismissed.
Mr Meena said criminal cases have also been booked in this regard.
Moreover, he said 392 applications were received on the Suvidha app seeking permissions for various formats of election campaigning.
When asked about the alleged lapses in arrangements in a recent NDA election campaign meeting in the state featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CEO declined to comment stating that the PM's programmes come under the purview of the Union Home Ministry and the Special Protection Group (SPG).
The Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha polls for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled on May 13 and the results will be declared on June 4.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)