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New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Ahead of the first phase of Bihar assembly elections on November 6 and by-elections in seven states, the ECI on Monday said flying squads have seized over Rs 108 crore in cash, liquor and freebies before distributing them in violation of the model code of conduct.
The Election Commission of India said, “Till November 3, illegal inducements worth over Rs 108.19 crore including cash worth Rs 9.62 crore, liquor worth Rs 42.14 crore (9.6 lakh litres), medicines worth Rs 24.61 crore, precious metals worth Rs 5.8 crore and other freebies worth over Rs 26 crore have been seized through a coordinated approach of multi-enforcement agencies in various states/UTs.” Have been done.”
To ensure that complaints lodged on ECI’s C-VIGIL portal are processed within 100 minutes, 824 flying squads have been deployed across Bihar.
The ECI said action against election code violations and seizures is underway in seven states/UTs where by-elections to eight assembly seats are scheduled on November 11.
The Commission has directed all enforcement officers to strictly monitor and combat the movement of cash, drugs, liquor and other inducements during the elections, an official statement said.
The ECI also stressed that enforcement officers should ensure that common citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during investigations and inspections to implement these directions.
According to the election panel, citizens/political parties can report violations of the election code of conduct using the C-VIGIL app on ECINET.
A complaint monitoring system including call center number 1950 has been set up, wherein complaints can be lodged by any member of the public or political party with the concerned DEO/RO. The statement said that this system remains operational round the clock.
The 2025 assembly election is the first election in Bihar after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which prepared the final electoral roll of 7.43 crore voters, including 14 lakh first-time voters.
To combat misinformation, the poll panel announced measures to tackle fake news at the district level, especially on social media. Each of the 243 constituencies will now have a dedicated observer, replacing the previous system where one observer monitored multiple seats.
–IANS
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