Rs 108 crore in cash, liquor and freebies seized before Bihar polls, says ECI
New Delhi: As Bihar gears up for the first phase of Assembly elections on 6 November, and by-elections take place across seven states, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced that it has seized illegal cash, liquor, drugs and other inducements worth over ₹108 crore in the run-up to the polls.
What has the Election Commission seized so far?
According to an official statement from the ECI, enforcement teams across the country have made significant recoveries.
“As on November 3, over ₹108.19 crore worth of illicit inducements including ₹9.62 crore in cash, liquor worth ₹42.14 crore (9.6 lakh litres), drugs worth ₹24.61 crore, precious metals worth ₹5.8 crore and other freebies worth over ₹26 crore have been seized through a coordinated approach involving multi-enforcement agencies across different States/UTs,” the Commission said.
How is the crackdown being carried out?
In Bihar alone, 824 flying squads have been deployed to ensure that every complaint registered on the C-VIGIL portal is acted upon within 100 minutes.
The Commission said that strict surveillance will continue in all seven States and Union Territories where by-elections to fill eight Assembly seats are scheduled for 11 November.
“The Commission has directed all the enforcement authorities to strictly monitor and combat movement of cash, drugs, liquor and other inducements during elections,” the ECI added.
However, it also emphasised that officials must ensure that ordinary citizens are not harassed during inspections and vehicle checks.
How can citizens report violations?
The ECI has urged citizens and political parties to report any violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) through its C-VIGIL mobile app available on the ECINET platform.
In addition, a 24x7 complaint monitoring system has been set up, which includes a call centre number – 1950. This allows members of the public or political parties to directly lodge complaints with the District Election Officer (DEO) or Returning Officer (RO) concerned.
What’s different in this election?
The 2025 Bihar Assembly election marks the first major state poll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, resulting in a final list of 7.43 crore registered voters, including 14 lakh first-time voters.
To strengthen transparency and fairness, the ECI has also taken measures to counter misinformation, particularly on social media. Each of Bihar’s 243 constituencies will now have its own dedicated observer, replacing the earlier system where one observer oversaw multiple seats.
IANS inputs