The Election Commission of India (ECI) has seized cash, liquor, narcotics, precious metal and freebies worth Rs 3152.54 crore till April 24 and Tamil Nadu stands out with a total seizure of Rs 935.74 crore — a lion's share of it came from the 3048 kgs of gold worth Rs 708.69 crore that they have confiscated, said a report released by the Expenditure Division of the ECI.
The southern Indian state also topped the list when it came to cash seizure with a whopping Rs 214.95 crore — 29 per cent of total cash seizures in the country (Rs 742.28 crore) and Rs 77.68 crore more than second rank-holder Andhra Pradesh. "This is primarily because of the rampant corruption that is there in the state. The politicians store the black money in either cash, gold or land," said Jayaram Venkatesan, Convenor, Arappor Iyakkam, a voluntary movement steered by thousands of volunteers and supporters in Chennai. "This is only the tip of the iceberg and even then we are way ahead of the other states. This gives you an idea of how much black money is being used in the largest democracy this election season," he added.
Gujarat scored the most when it came to drugs. The ECI confiscated Rs 524.34 crore worth of drugs and narcotics from PM Narendra Modi's native state — way above Delhi's Rs 352.69 crore and Punjab's Rs 179.53 crore seizure. Uttar Pradesh came first in the list of liquor seizure with Rs 42.49 crore seized till now.
Drugs are the in thing to lure voters this season, or so the ECI report suggests. Rs 1180.795 crore worth of drugs and narcotics were seized from across the country till April 24. Gold stands a close second with a total worth of Rs 942.95 crore followed by total cash seizure of Rs 742.28 crore.
