ECI seizes Rs 1,760 crore worth drugs, cash, liquor in poll-going states

The Election Commission on Monday said over R1760 crore worth of freebies drugs cash liquor and precious metals aimed at inducing voters in the five pollgoing states have been seized so far The poll panel said the seizures made since the polls were announced on October 9 are over seven times R23915 crore the seizures made in the previous assembly elections in these states in 2018While assembly polls have already been held in MP Chhattisgarh and Mizoram voting will take place in Rajasthan and Telangana on November 25 and November 30 respectivelyAccording to an EC statement seizures worth over R1400 crore were made in the past six state assembly elections held in Gujarat HP Nagaland Meghalaya Tripura and Karnataka which was 11 times the seizures made in previous elections in these statesChief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had stressed on inducementfree elections to ensure a levelplaying field for all candidates and parties This time the commission has also embedded technology into the monitoring process through the Election Expenditure Monitoring System ESMS which is proving to be a catalyst as it brought a wide array of central and state enforcement agencies together for better coordination and intelligencesharing the statement saidPM Modi lsquocontrolsrsquo everything says KhargeMallikarjun KhargeCongress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ldquocontrolsrdquo everything from ports to airports and he is working towards making people ldquoslavesrdquoAddressing a public meeting in Anupgarh in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan ahead of the November 25 assembly polls Kharge said the Congress will work to address peoplersquos issues and concerns and deliver on the promises made to themldquoPerhaps the prime minister is also touring this area Wherever we intend to go we do not get permission to fly This means everything is under his control Air land ports and airports all are under his control He is working towards making people slavesrdquo the Congress president said without elaborating Prime Minister Modi addressed a few election rallies in Rajasthan on MondayBJP seeking votes on religion not workAttacking the BJP Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said that those who seek votes in the name of religion or caste are not in a position to ask for votes on the basis of their work Addressing a rally in Kekdi in pollbound Rajasthanrsquos Ajmer Vadra asked people to vote after evaluating the work done by different partiesNot UCC but free speech needed moreAIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said the Uniform Civil Code is not required in the country criticising the BJP for promising to implement it and stressed the need for more freedom of speech and expression whereby people will not be targetted for their attire and religion He was reacting to BJPrsquos promises in its Telangana poll manifestoKCR is No 1 in corruption ShahAlleging that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar is ldquonumber one in corruptionrdquo in the country Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the BJP would conduct a probe into the BRS governmentrsquos ldquocorrupt dealsrdquo if it comes to power in the state and put those who indulged in corruption behind barsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever