Inducements worth Rs 1,445 cr seized during recent polls; Tamil Nadu tops in cash, Bengal in liquor
New Delhi (PTI): Inducements worth Rs 1,445 crore have been seized during the recent elections to five assemblies, with Tamil Nadu topping in cash seizures and West Bengal in liquor and drugs, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
The figures represent a 40.14 per cent increase in seizures as compared to the 2021 assembly polls in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry when the seizures amounted to Rs 1,029.93 crore.
West Bengal saw the highest increase in the seizures of 68.92 per cent, and Tamil Nadu saw an increase in seizures of 48.40 per cent in 2026 compared to the corresponding figures during the 2021 elections.
According to the data shared by the poll authority, while nearly 155 crore illicit cash was recovered in the four states and Puducherry, liquor worth Rs 183.33 crore (around 70 lakh litres) was also seized.
Cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and other inducements such as sarees, clothes, pressure cookers, utensils and even television sets are doled out to electors to induce them to vote for a particular party.
Drugs worth nearly Rs 3,338 crore were recovered from the four states and one UT, with West Bengal topping the recoveries at Rs 30.28 crore. No drug recoveries were reported from Puducherry.
Expenditure observers numbering 376 drawn from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and related accounts services, 7,470 flying squad teams (FSTs) and 7,470 static surveillance teams (SSTs) were also deployed to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement-free elections.
The seizures were facilitated by IT platform Election Seizure Management System (ESMS), which enhanced inter-agency coordination and streamlined communication between them for sharing actionable input. It was activated on February 26 ahead of the announcement of polls on March 15.
Polls to elect new governments in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry were held in April, and votes were counted on May 4.
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Man dragged into river by crocodile in Vadodara; search ops underway
Vadodara (PTI): A 22-year-old man was dragged into a river by a crocodile in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Thursday and search operations are currently underway to locate him, a police official said.
The incident took place at 1:30pm when Mithun Vasava, a resident of Kagdipara village, had gone to take a dip in Dev river amid the stifling heat, the official told PTI.
"The crocodile suddenly attacked the man and dragged him into the river. Search operations are currently underway to locate Vasava," the official added.
