Flying squad check vehicles in Chennai on Thursday (March 26, 2026) before Assembly elections to intercept illicit cash, liquor, drugs, weapons, and campaign materials aimed at inducing voters.
| Photo Credit: Velankanni Raj B.
The Election Commission on Thursday (March 26, 2026) said over ₹408.82 crore worth of illicit inducements, including ₹17.44 crore in cash, liquor worth ₹37.68 crore and drugs worth ₹167.38 crore, had been seized through a coordinated approach involving multi-enforcement agencies in the four States and one union territory going for Assembly polls next month.
Apart from the liquor and drugs, the seizures include precious metals worth ₹23 crore and other freebies worth over ₹163.30 crore, the poll body said in a statement.
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The seizures have been made through a coordinated approach involving multi-enforcement agencies across different States/union territories during the one-month period since the activation of the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) on February 26, it said.
Assembly polls will be held in a single phase in Assam, Puducherry and Kerala on April 9, in Tamil Nadu on April 23 and in two phases in West Bengal on April 23 and April 29. Counting for all four States and the Union territory of Puducherry will be held on May 4.
The commission has directed the States to ensure strict compliance with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
On March 24, the poll panel held a review meeting with the Chief Secretaries, CEOs, DGPs, and senior officers from the five poll-going States/union territory and their 12 bordering States along with the heads of enforcement agencies to review readiness, enhance coordination, and directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement-free elections.
Flying squads
To ensure this, over 5,173 flying squads have been deployed across the States to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes. Besides this, over 5,200 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise nakas at different locations.
The Election Commission has also stressed that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection for the enforcement of these directives. District grievance committees have also been setup to address any grievances in this regard.
Citizens/political parties can report model code violations using the C-Vigil module on ECINET.
The commission further said that from March 15-25, 70,944 complaints have been lodged using the C-Vigil app in the general elections and the byelections-bound States. Of these, 70,831 had been disposed of and 67,899 complaints, i.e., 95.8%, were resolved within 100 minutes.
Published – March 26, 2026 08:04 pm IST