The Election Commission of India (ECI) has made "Record seizures" during Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The seizures in Gujarat amounted to Rs 71.88 crores while seizures in Himachal Pradesh amounted to Rs 50.28 crores as per ECI's statement.
The ECI in its press release stated that through "comprehensive planning, reviews and follow-ups" these seizures have been made.
Notably, on the occasion of the announcement of dates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections, 2022, Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Rajiv Kumar has stressed inducement-free elections.
The ECI in its statement called the seizure drive in Gujarat "encouraging" as Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crores in just a few days of the announcement of the elections which surpasses even the seizures made in the entire duration of enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct in Assembly Elections, 2017 which was Rs 27.21 crores.
Similarly, the seizures in Himachal Pradesh are also significant amounting to Rs 50.28 crores as compared to Rs 9.03 crores during Himachal's last election in 2017 marking a more than five-fold increase.
ECI urges citizens to become vigilant and extensively use the cVigil App to curb the menace of money power in elections.
The ECI charted out that efforts are being made to closely monitor the poll-going States and it would continue till the completion of the ongoing elections. ECI is confident that the figures for seizures are expected to rise further.
Notably, the ECI on Thursday, 10th November 2022, issued a notification pertaining to curbing the broadcast and publication of exit-poll projections for poll-bound Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.
The election to the assembly for Gujarat is slated to take place in two phases, while in Himachal it will take place in a single phase.
Himachal Pradesh is all set to go for polls on November 12 for all the 68 seats of the state and the counting of votes will be held on December 8.
Polling in Gujarat will take place on December 1 and December 5. In the first phase of polling in the Gujarat Assembly elections, polling will be held for 89 seats while the second phase will see voting for 93 seats. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh's result date.
The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023, while the term of the Himachal House will end on January 8, 2023.
( With inputs from ANI )
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