ECI'S UNPRECEDENTED STRICTNESS ENSURES FAIR ELECTIONS

In the last one month ECI had seized Rs 4,650 crore in cash and goods meant to impact polling.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

When the Election Commission held the press conference on 16 March to announce the schedule for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, it had made it clear that it would be ensuring that the elections were conducted in a free, fair and unbiased manner.

The otherwise soft-spoken Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, who was under pressure of ensuring that the EC did not become a toothless body with a perfunctory role, in a stern message to the political parties said that there would be zero tolerance to any incident undertaken to undermine the election process.

In one month of the said announcement and even before the first phase of polling took place, the ECI had seized Rs 4,650 crore worth cash and goods that were meant to impact polling. This massive figure, the highest ever in the history of election related seizure, is likely to reach newer heights as the elections have just started and six phases of polling are still left.

Officials believe that this figure is going to cross Rs 7,500 crore by next month end.

In 2019, the ECI’s seizure was worth Rs 3,475 crore during the entire election process out of which the cash component was Rs 841 crore. In 2014, it had seized Rs 300 crore in cash.