New Delhi, March 26 (IANS). The Election Commission has intensified its strictness regarding the assembly and by-elections starting from April. According to the latest report of the Commission, illegal material worth more than Rs 400 crore has been seized so far.
On March 15, the Election Commission had announced the dates of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal as well as by-elections in 6 states. Along with this, all the states and union territories were instructed to strictly follow the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
On March 24, the Commission had held a review meeting with Chief Secretaries, DGPs, Chief Electoral Officers and other senior officials of the election-bound states and their 12 neighboring states. In this meeting, emphasis was laid on increasing mutual coordination to make elections free from violence, fear and greed.
To keep an eye on electoral irregularities, the Commission has deployed 5,173 flying squads across the country, ensuring action within 100 minutes of receiving complaints. Apart from this, more than 5,200 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) are also carrying out surveillance by conducting surprise checks and setting up nakas at different places.
According to the Commission, a total of illegal materials worth Rs 408.82 crore have been seized through the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) between February 26 and March 25. This includes cash worth Rs 17.44 crore, liquor worth Rs 37.68 crore (about 16.3 lakh litres), drugs worth Rs 167.38 crore, precious metals worth Rs 23 crore and other free gifts worth more than Rs 163.30 crore.
The Election Commission has also made it clear that the common people should not face any kind of trouble or harassment during the investigation. For this, grievance redressal committees have been formed at the district level, so that any complaint can be resolved immediately.
The Commission has appealed to citizens and political parties to lodge complaints of MCC violations through the C-Vigil app. Between March 15 and March 25, 70,944 complaints were registered on this app, of which 70,831 have been resolved. The special thing is that 67,899 i.e. 95.8 percent complaints were resolved within 100 minutes.
Apart from this, the Commission has also issued a call center number 1950, where any individual or political party can register their complaint.
–IANS
VKU/VC
