In Tamil Nadu, cash and ‘kind’ together valued at ₹428.46 crore have been seized so far since the election was announced to the State Assembly and the lone by-poll for the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat to be held simultaneously on April 6.
The seizure includes ₹225.5 crore in cash; precious metal (gold, silver, diamond and other ornaments) worth ₹176.11 crore; liquor (2,75,293 litres) worth ₹4.61 crore and other items valued at ₹20.01 crore, says a press release issued by State Election Commission.
In Tamil Nadu, 105 Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies were identified, and extra efforts as mandated by Election Commission of India (ECI) were strengthened.
Expenditure sensitive pockets were identified, and the teams have been directed to be extra vigilant during the last 72 hours. Four State Nodal Officers – 2 for Expenditure, 1 Police, 1 General Observer have been appointed by the ECI to oversee all the aspects of Election Expenditure Monitoring. A total of 118 Expenditure Observers have been drafted to monitor expenditure by candidates and political parties.
The last 72 hours are extremely sensitive from the expenditure standpoint. Towards this, round-the-clock surveillance has been taken up.
Patrolling has been strengthened during night and early morning along with Expenditure teams. This has resulted in significant seizures in the last 24 hours namely cash seizures of ₹91.56 lakh in Ranipet district; ₹1.23 crore in Thousand lights constituency, Chennai; ₹1.15 crore at Veerapandi, Salem; ₹1.06 crore in Vellore district, ₹98 lakh in Coimbatore City; ₹1.13 crore in Saidapet, Chennai; and ₹65 lakh cash at Virudhunagar Assembly Constituency. All put together the cash seizure during the last 24 hours stands at ₹8.42 crore.
Further 41,90 liquor bottles and 7,600 litre ‘fermented wash’ was seized, in different places, the release said.
For any complaints, people can call 1950 which will be received in the District Election Officers office and State Toll free number (1800 4252 1950) at CEO’s office. Complete confidentiality of the complainants will be maintained.