Voting inducements seized in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu exceed Rs 865 crore ahead of elections

NEW DELHI: Cumulative seizures of potential election bait in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have exceeded Rs 865 crore, with the former accounting for 96 per cent of the value of liquor seized and the latter accounting for 88 per cent of the illegal cash seizures.Tamil Nadu will go to polls on April 23 and West Bengal will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and 29. The Rs 865 crore seized since the launch of the Election Commission’s Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) on February 26, 2026, was almost equally divided between West Bengal (Rs 427 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 438 crore). Of the Rs 99 crore cash seized, Tamil Nadu accounted for Rs 78 crore and West Bengal Rs 21 crore. About 3.19 million liters of liquor worth Rs 81 crore were seized in West Bengal, while 97,107 liters worth Rs 3 crore were seized in Tamil Nadu.The value of freebies seized in the two states was almost equal – Rs 172 crore in West Bengal and Rs 178 crore in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu leads the way in terms of precious metal seizures worth Rs 105 crore, while West Bengal is at Rs 54 crore. Drugs worth Rs 100 crore were seized in West Bengal and Rs 74 crore in Tamil Nadu. The Election Commission, in multiple review meetings with the chief secretaries, chief electoral officers and general electoral officers of the two polling states and their bordering states, as well as heads of law enforcement agencies, directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement-free elections. For this purpose, it has deployed over 5,011 flying squads and 5,363 static surveillance teams in the two states.