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

2024-04-15 Information

Election Commission

ECI cracks down on money power: Rs.100 crore seizure each day since 1st MarchRs. 4650 crores seized even before polling begins: Higher than total seizures in 2019 pollsCommissions says action will continue to be strict and non-stop

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. Enforcement Agencies have made a record seizure of over Rs. 4650 crores in ECI’s resolute fight against money power even before the first phase of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha elections commences on Friday. This marks a sharp increase over Rs 3475 crores seized during the entire Lok Sabha election in 2019. Significantly, 45% 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.

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 candidate in specific geographies. The seizures are a critical part of ECI resolve to conduct the Lok Sabha elections free of inducements and electoral malpractices and to ensure a level playing field. CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the polls last month, underlined Money Power as one of the ‘4M’ challenges. On 12th April, Commission led by CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu reviewed all Central Observers deployed in Phase -1 of elections going to poll on 19th April. Tightening, monitoring and checking were amongst the focus of deliberations to ensure inducement-free electoral process.

The enhanced seizures reflect ECI’s unwavering commitment to monitor inducements and curb electoral malpractices for a ‘level playing field’, particularly in favour of smaller and less resourceful parties.

In an incident in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, the Commission suspended the flying squad team leader for laxity in duty and selective checking of a cavalcade of a prominent leader. Similarly, officials checked vehicles in the convoy of CM of a state and also vehicle of a Dy CM in another state. Commission has also taken strict action against approximately 106 government servants who have been found assisting politicians in campaigning, thereby violating the Code of Conduct and instructions.

In the press briefing during announcement of Parliamentary elections, CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar stressed in his presentation on strict compliance of BCAS instructions on surveillance and inspection of non-scheduled aircrafts and helicopters by Income tax, airport authorities and SPs of concerned districts, border agencies to keep close watch on international checkposts and GST authorities to closely monitor godowns, especially makeshift godowns meant for storing freebies. The Commission during reviews had always emphasized that there will be multi-pronged surveillance on all modes of transport – check posts and nakas for road transport, Coast guard for coastal routes and DMs and SPs alongside agencies for air routes including checking of helicopters and non-scheduled flights.

Details of State /UT wise and category wise seizures as on 13.04.2024 is placed at Annexure A.

How has it been made possible?

Election Seizure Management System (ESMS)- breaking silos and bringing all enforcement agencies on one platform through use of technology is proving to be a game changer. With the introduction of technology in monitoring process, ESMS, an ECI in-house developed portal is proving to be a catalyst. 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 at the click of a mouse enabling quick and timely reviews at all controlling levels. As per data, 6398 District nodal officers of various agencies, 734 state nodal officers, 59000 flying squads (FS) 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 during 2023, when Rs 2014.26 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.

Meticulous and exhaustive planning, involvement of largest number of Enforcement Agencies: The largest number of enforcement agencies both from Centre and States have been assembled for collaborative effort among agencies.

S. No.

Cohort

Agencies

Cash & Precious Metals

Income Tax, state Police, RBI, SLBC, AAI, BCAS, State Civil Aviation, Enforcement Directorate, Dept. of Post, CISF

Liquor

State Police, State Excise, RPF

Narcotics

State Police, NCB, ICG, DRI

Freebies

CGST, SGST, State Transport Department, Customs, State Police

Border and Other agencies

Assam Rifles, BSF, SSB, ITBP, CRPF, Forest Department, State Police

Months prior to elections and more intensively from January 2024, senior officials from the Election Commission visited every State and Union territory to emphasize the importance of combating the influence of money in elections. Furthermore, districts were thoroughly reviewed, and discussions were held with Chief Secretaries, Directors General of Police (DGPs), and heads of enforcement agencies to assess their performance and encourage heightened vigilance against the misuse of financial resources during elections. Field-level personnel are also subject to ongoing reviews by Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), Observers, and District Electoral Officers (DEOs). Often, discoveries made by one agency ‘inform and guide’ the actions of others, leading to a unified and widespread deterrent effect. Commission has also emphasized the importance of joint teams comprising relevant agencies in inspecting inducements through various means—road, rail, sea, and air—during electoral visits to States/UTs. As a result, in January and February, the months preceding the official announcement, countrywide seizures totalling another Rs 7502 crores were recorded in form of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies. This brings total seizure to over Rs 12000 crores so far with six weeks still left in the election period.
Increased focus on drug menace in society: Notably, there was a substantial focus on drug seizures, which accounted for approximately 75% of the total seizures in January and February 2024. Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar had emphasized 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. 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.

Checking of vehicles by Static Surveillance Team in Arunachal Pradesh

Seizure of liquor in Kalaburagi District in Karnataka

Identification of Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies: 123 Parliamentary Constituencies are marked as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies for more focussed vigil. These constituencies had either had a history of distribution of inducements in previous elections or have inter-state and international borders with potential inflow of drugs, cash, and liquor.
Deployment of Expenditure Observers: Senior officers appointed as Expenditure Observers serve as the eyes and ears of the Commission for a fair and inducement free elections. A total of 656 Expenditure Observers have been assigned to Parliamentary Constituencies, while 125 are deployed in Assembly Constituencies across Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Sikkim. Special Expenditure Observers with a brilliant track record of domain expertise and experience with election processes have also been deployed in States/UTs.
Use of cVigil: cVigil app of the Commission has also reinforced the expenditure monitoring process through complaints directly from citizens on distribution of any type of inducements. Since announcement of election schedule, a total of 3262 complaints have been received pertaining to distribution of cash, liquor and freebies.
No harassment to citizens: At the beginning of the current elections, there were reports in the media about tourists undergoing unnecessary checks and hassles by ground-level teams. Taking this matter seriously, the Commission promptly issued an advisory to all Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) regarding the need for a careful and courteous approach when inspecting tourists and citizens. Additionally, the Commission directed the constituted ‘District Grievance Committees (DGC)’ to hold daily hearings at designated locations for the swift resolution of grievances related to seizures. CEOs and DEOs were instructed to ensure the effective functioning of these committees.

These measures serve as the cornerstone of a comprehensive expenditure monitoring process, resulting in increased seizures with least inconvenience to the public. With campaigning intensifying in the days ahead, the Commission stands prepared to enhance its vigilance to ensure an inducement-free electoral process in line with its commitment.

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DK/RP

Annexure A- State/UT wise seizure details as on April 13, 2024

Election Seizure Management System

Date of Print: 13.04.2024 09:53 pm
Filter Date: From 01-03-2024 To 13-04-2024

S.N

State

Cash (Rs. Crore)

Liquor Qty (Litres)

Liquor Value (Rs. Crore)

Drugs Value (Rs. Crore)

Precious Metal Value (Rs. Crore)

Freebies / Other Items Value (Rs.
Crore)

Total (Rs. Crore)

Andaman And Nicobar Islands

0.2283950

3129.11

0.0744660

2.0127000

0.0000000

2.3155610

Andhra Pr.

32.1549530

1022756.48

19.7198350

4.0635400

57.1427590

12.8933650

125.9744520

Arunachal Pr.

6.4626890

157056.59

2.8799110

0.8182360

2.6378890

0.7295980

13.5283230

Assam

3.1780990

1594842.47

19.2702290

48.7692370

44.2246890

25.6795360

141.1217900

Bihar

6.7770240

845758.18

31.5729460

37.5943630

19.7613200

60.0628720

155.7685250

Chandigarh

0.9690950

29027.47

0.9157730

2.0751550

0.5269720

0.0000000

4.4869950

Chhattisgarh

11.9818310

55690.73

1.3978870

17.1809360

2.5824360

26.3291050

59.4721950

DD&DNH

0.3949850

8351.26

0.2149490

0.0000000

0.6099340

Goa

15.6452760

101446.04

2.3307540

3.2368700

3.7885940

1.1857350

26.1872290

Gujarat

6.5565420

760062.82

21.9468710

485.9946220

36.4879620

54.3495200

605.3355170

Haryana

3.8467740

191840.41

5.6527380

5.4925780

1.7325760

1.1865960

17.9112620

Himachal Pr.

0.2235760

355123.80

5.2488070

2.2543480

0.0335000

0.1547150

7.9149460

Jammu And Kashmir

1.2466890

23964.59

0.6300640

2.3529220

0.0025800

0.0559150

4.2881700

Jharkhand

4.2282350

158054.60

3.4131010

35.1123330

0.3980360

8.6841250

51.8358300

Karnataka

35.5380070

13052708.14

124.3380670

18.7566280

41.9368860

60.8632560

281.4328440

Kerala

10.9301610

49212.31

2.0053870

14.2861250

21.0896510

5.0468590

53.3581830

Ladakh

0.0000000

18.83

0.0011580

0.0000000

0.0011580

Lakshadweep

0.0000000

35.55

0.0181200

0.0556000

0.0000000

0.0737200

Madhya Pr.

13.3794000

1633114.94

25.7788940

25.8906670

8.7413820

38.4886970

112.2790400

Maharashtra

40.0560580

3556027.76

28.4656210

213.5643290

69.3837180

79.8780460

431.3477720

Manipur

0.0003530

36489.36

0.4067430

31.1167990

3.8523740

8.9337170

44.3099860

Meghalaya

0.5048930

42655.42

0.6695960

26.8558810

0.0000000

7.3595450

35.3899150

Mizoram

0.1119530

105488.00

3.7789580

37.1563530

0.0000000

5.8545950

46.9018590

Nagaland

0.0000000

26537.76

0.2617410

2.9973300

0.0000000

4.9314800

8.1905510

NCT OF
Delhi

11.2862670

67046.55

1.4250850

189.9424280

32.2370250

1.1788900

236.0696950

Odisha

1.4750630

1324111.29

16.2141150

39.0155790

6.4600000

43.9682390

107.1329960

Puducherry

0.0000000

818.56

0.0173900

0.0000000

0.0173900

Punjab

5.1334400

2206988.94

14.4041880

280.8158050

10.5262050

0.9652680

311.8449060

Rajasthan

35.8561600

3798601.52

40.7857900

119.3799370

49.2176960

533.2869270

778.5265100

Sikkim

0.3015000

6145.30

0.1195790

0.0141580

0.0000000

0.0015000

0.4367370

Tamil Nadu

53.5886800

590297.33

4.4342350

293.0253640

78.7575380

31.0436110

460.8494280

Telangana

49.1818260

685838.52

19.2125880

22.7139650

12.3893650

18.3519690

121.8497130

Tripura

0.4830040

136617.51

2.1921530

16.8726420

0.6326870

3.3093150

23.4898010

Uttar Pr.

24.3163150

1059181.84

35.3357200

53.9802710

20.6561230

11.4803120

145.7687410

Uttarakhand

6.1560290

67488.22

3.0093810

9.8666220

3.2938600

0.2153580

22.5412500

West Bengal

13.2002790

2077396.55

51.1733990

25.5883020

33.6120330

96.0305140

219.6045270

TOTAL (Rs.
Crore)

395.3935510

35829924.75

489.3162390

2068.8526250

562.1058560

1142.4991800

4658.1674510

Grand Total (CR): 4658.1674510

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