As the polling for Karnataka Legislative Assembly gets underway on Wednesday after a fiercely fought campaign by the parties, the Election Commission has said that a whopping over ₹463 crore worth cash, liquor, jewels, drugs and freebies have been seized since the second week of March while the Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹288 crore worth of assets.
The Election Commission said that the total seizures since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into place has been 4.5 times higher than that of the seizures done in 2018. While about ₹83.93 crore worth of cash, jewellery, liquor and freebies had been seized in 2018, this year, the number had shot up to about ₹380 crore. This apart, the Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹288 crore worth of assets after imposition of the Model Code of Conduct.
The seizures in 2023 include ₹147.46 crore cash, 22.27 lakh litres of liquor worth ₹83.66, narcotics worth ₹23.67 crore, precious metal worth ₹96.60 crore and freebies worth ₹24.21 crore among others. Besides, ₹83.78 crore worth of cash and articles have been seized between the second week of March when the Election Commission officials visited Karnataka and March 29 when the MCC came into effect after the dates for election were announced.
