EC makes record seizures worth Rs 331 cr in states going to polls

Tamil Nadu tops poll-bound states in seizures in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections to four states and one Union Territory (UT), said the Election Commission of India (ECI) The ECI said on Wednesday that it has seized a total of Rs 331 crore in expenditure monitoring process ahead of the assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Distributing cash and gifts such as money or liquor to voters during the electoral process is not permitted under the law. Such expenditure comes under the definition of ‘bribery’, which is an offence both under 171B of the Indian Penal Code and under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Expenditure on such items is illegal, the ECI said in a statement.

Significantly, the ECI said the seizures this time around already “surpass the total seizures made in assembly elections to these states/UT in 2016 and significant point is that record seizures have been made even though polling is yet to start”.


Total seizures in the four states and the UT of Puducherry during assembly elections in 2016 stood at Rs 225.77 crore. Tamil Nadu alone accounts for Rs 126.64 crore of the total seizures this time around, followed closely by West Bengal, where Rs 112.59 crore has been seized. The ECI said it was looking to curb the “menace of money power” during the ongoing elections. It said it has deployed 295 expenditure observers and has also appointed five special expenditure observers.