Gifts, cash and liquor seem to be flowing more freely this election season, compared to the previous two, if the quantum of seizures by the Election Commission is anything to go by.
It has been just 22 days since the model code of conduct came into force, but the total cash, liquor and gifts seized in this period is more than double the total seizures made during the entire period when the model code of conduct was in force for the Assembly elections of 2013 and the parliamentary elections of 2014.
While ₹13.42 crore and ₹28.08 crore in cash was seized by EC officials in 2013 and 2014 respectively, they have so far seized ₹34.39 crore, with a little more than three weeks still left for the polling date.
A whopping 1.92 lakh litres of IML and other liquor worth about ₹9.02 crore have been seized so far. The authorities had seized 67,953 litres and 44,924 litres of liquor in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
According to Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar, while freebies worth about ₹19.36 crore have been seized so far this year, ₹6.78 crore worth of freebies had been seized in 2014. No freebies were seized in 2013.
This year, 14.49 kg of gold worth ₹3.71 crore has been seized so far. There was no gold seizure during the previous two elections, according to data provided by the commission.
When asked if there were more inducements this time or monitoring has been strict, Mr. Kumar, who did not give a direct reply, said, “It is a matter of research.”
The commission, he said, was closely monitoring the activities of cooperative banks after a couple of complaints had come over movement of cash.
Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat, during his recent visit to Bengaluru, had said that one of the main concerns of the commission had been distribution of cash and freebies.
Kambar, Puneeth, Praneetha as icons
The Election Commission on Thursday announced three more icons to promote voting. They are Kannada writer Chandrashekar Kambar, and actors Puneeth Rajkumar and Praneetha.
When reaction was sought over roping in Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar, who was the commission’s icon during the previous elections but did not vote, Additional CEO B.R. Mamatha said the actor had assured them that he would vote this time. “We also hope he will vote this time,” she said.
‘No objection to pay panel report implementation’
The Election Commission has said that it has no objection to implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations increasing salary of State government employees.
The Election Commission made its stand clear after the office of the Chief Electoral Officer sought its opinion on implementation of the pay rules when the model code of conduct is in force.
“The commission has issued its no objection since the Cabinet had approved the recommendations on March 3, before the model code of conduct came into force,” the Chief Electoral Officer said on Thursday.
