New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday reported seizures of illicit inducements worth over ₹400 crore since the announcement of assembly elections and bypolls earlier this month, underscoring intensified efforts to curb electoral malpractice.
According to the poll body, enforcement agencies confiscated items valued at ₹408.82 crore between February 26 and March 25 after the rollout of the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS). The seizures include cash worth ₹17.44 crore, liquor valued at ₹37.68 crore, drugs worth ₹167.38 crore, precious metals amounting to ₹23 crore, and other freebies exceeding ₹163.30 crore.
The Commission had announced the election schedule for Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry on March 15, bringing the Model Code of Conduct into immediate effect.
To strengthen monitoring, over 5,173 flying squads have been deployed across poll-bound regions to respond to violations, while more than 5,200 Static Surveillance Teams are conducting surprise inspections at sensitive locations.
In a high-level review meeting held on March 24, the Commission directed officials, including Chief Secretaries, Directors General of Police and Chief Electoral Officers, to ensure free, fair and inducement-free elections through tighter coordination among enforcement agencies.
At the same time, the ECI emphasised that routine checks must not inconvenience the public. District Grievance Committees have been set up to address complaints arising from enforcement actions.
Citizen participation has also seen a significant rise through the cVIGIL app, which allows users to report violations of the Model Code of Conduct. Between March 15 and March 25, a total of 70,944 complaints were received, of which 70,831 were resolved. Notably, 95.8 per cent of complaints were addressed within 100 minutes.
The Commission said a dedicated complaint redressal system, including the 1950 helpline, remains operational to ensure swift response to grievances, reiterating its commitment to transparent and fair elections backed by technology-driven monitoring.
