NEW DELHI, Apr 22 : Poll-related seizures, including cash, drugs and liquor meant to allure voters, have crossed the Rs 1,000 crore mark in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
While seizures worth nearly Rs 473 crore have been made from West Bengal, it has been pegged at over Rs 599 crore in Tamil Nadu.
The EC said since the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) was activated on February 26, enforcement authorities have recovered freebies and allurements worth Rs 1,072.13 crore in the two states.
Tamil Nadu will go to polls on Thursday in a single phase along with phase one in West Bengal where the second phase of voting is slated for April 29.
The seizures include Rs 127.67 crore in cash, nearly 41,000 litres of liquor worth Rs 106.3 crore, drugs worth nearly Rs 184 crore and precious metals such as gold and silver worth Rs 215 crore.
Authorities have also seized freebies worth Rs 418 crore, the EC said.
While more cash has been seized in Tamil Nadu, most of the liquor has been recovered from West Bengal.
West Bengal saw more drugs recovered in terms of value, while more precious metals and freebies — also in terms of total worth — were seized in Tamil Nadu. (PTI(
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