A polling official, right, hands over electronic voting machines to his colleague at a distribution center ahead of the sixth phase of voting of the Indian parliamentary elections in Mumbai, on Wednesday, April 23. (AP Photo)
New Delhi, April 23 (IANS): Money and liquor seems to be lining the electoral trail this election, if the latest figures of the Election Commission are anything to go by. A staggering Rs.240 crore ($39 million) in unaccounted cash has been seized by the poll panel so far. The amount is much more than was seized in the assembly elections to 23 states since 2010.
Less than half of the Lok Sabha election is over and four more phases are due till May 12. Of the money seized, Andhra Pradesh tops the list with Rs.102 crore. A mind-boggling 1.32 crore (13 million) litres of liquor, mostly moonshine, was seized, pointing to the intention of political parties to lure voters with Bacchus.
In a worrying find, 104 kg heroin was also seized by officials of the poll panel. The data did not indicate the states where the drugs or liquor was seized from. After Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu was the other state from where a large amount of cash was seized at Rs.39 crore, followed by Karnataka with Rs.20.53 crore, according to official data released Wednesday.
Around Rs.215 crore was seized altogether since the 2010 assembly election in Bihar, which was followed by elections and by-elections in 23 states, including West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat , Karnataka and Delhi, according to the Election Commission.
In its effort to curb the use of black money and illegal funds in the elections, the Election Commission has deployed hundreds of officials in all the Lok Sabha constituencies and assembly seats where polling is being held.
The monitoring mechanism includes flying squads, quick response teams and surveillance teams headed by executive magistrates to track down illegal cash transactions or distribution of liquor or any other items used to bribe and influence voters.
Less than half of the Lok Sabha election is over and four more phases are due till May 12. Of the money seized, Andhra Pradesh tops the list with Rs.102 crore. A mind-boggling 1.32 crore (13 million) litres of liquor, mostly moonshine, was seized, pointing to the intention of political parties to lure voters with Bacchus.
In a worrying find, 104 kg heroin was also seized by officials of the poll panel. The data did not indicate the states where the drugs or liquor was seized from. After Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu was the other state from where a large amount of cash was seized at Rs.39 crore, followed by Karnataka with Rs.20.53 crore, according to official data released Wednesday.
Around Rs.215 crore was seized altogether since the 2010 assembly election in Bihar, which was followed by elections and by-elections in 23 states, including West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat , Karnataka and Delhi, according to the Election Commission.
In its effort to curb the use of black money and illegal funds in the elections, the Election Commission has deployed hundreds of officials in all the Lok Sabha constituencies and assembly seats where polling is being held.
The monitoring mechanism includes flying squads, quick response teams and surveillance teams headed by executive magistrates to track down illegal cash transactions or distribution of liquor or any other items used to bribe and influence voters.
EC empowers citizens to check blackmoney, hate speech in polls
New Delhi, April 23 (PTI): In a major technology leap undertaken by the Election Commission (EC) to check electoral malpractices, a common man can now upload a video or audio clip of an inflammatory speech, illegal cash or liquor distribution to the poll body’s website which will automatically authenticate the credentials of the media post.
The EC, for the first time, has developed and deployed a unique Android-based software which is able to automatically generate the geographical location, coordinates, date and time of a clip uploaded onto it which is an attempt by the poll body to weed out instances of fake videos and footage being circulated to confuse the voters and also to mislead election officials.
“All that a common man needs to do now is to use an Android phone for recording a political meeting or an instance of illegal distribution of cash or liquor or any other electoral malpractice in his or her area. The software will automatically find out the coordinates of the area and time and date, thereby reducing instances of fake videos going viral during election time,” a senior official told PTI.
Sources said that the EC wanted to get such a software for a long time as a number of instances of inflammatory speeches and videos emerge during the polls and it is essential to differentiate between the authentic and the fake ones.
Also, once such an technical authentication is available for a video or an audio, the EC can take action against the guilty under the Representation of the People Act. The official said the new facility has now been provided to the offices of all the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) across the country.
The EC, for the first time, has developed and deployed a unique Android-based software which is able to automatically generate the geographical location, coordinates, date and time of a clip uploaded onto it which is an attempt by the poll body to weed out instances of fake videos and footage being circulated to confuse the voters and also to mislead election officials.
“All that a common man needs to do now is to use an Android phone for recording a political meeting or an instance of illegal distribution of cash or liquor or any other electoral malpractice in his or her area. The software will automatically find out the coordinates of the area and time and date, thereby reducing instances of fake videos going viral during election time,” a senior official told PTI.
Sources said that the EC wanted to get such a software for a long time as a number of instances of inflammatory speeches and videos emerge during the polls and it is essential to differentiate between the authentic and the fake ones.
Also, once such an technical authentication is available for a video or an audio, the EC can take action against the guilty under the Representation of the People Act. The official said the new facility has now been provided to the offices of all the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) across the country.
Polls in India cost more than Rs 1,50,000 crore in past five years
New Delhi, April 23 (Agencies): : As ongoing Lok Sabha polls reach the sixth phase, a new study has found that the total money spent on all elections in last five years has crossed Rs 1,50,000 crore and over half of these funds have come from “unaccounted sources”. The study, conducted by think-tank CMS, comes at a time when various political parties are accusing each other of using alleged black money in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, which began on April 7 and will continue till May 12. So far, voting has taken place in 232 Lok Sabha seats across five phases, while a further 311 constituencies will go to polls in the remaining 4 phases.
There have already been many cases where the Election Commission has confiscated bundles of cash and other items across the country and it is keeping a close tab on any possible use of unaccounted cash and other incentives to lure voters during elections, which have traditionally been very expensive affairs in India.
According to the CMS study, more than Rs 1,50,000 crore has been spent across various elections held in India over the past five years. “This is a conservative estimate. Out of this huge amount, more than half is black money. The black money funding for polls is the mother of all corruption in our nation,” CMS Chairman N Bhaskara Rao told PTI.
Of this Rs 1.5 lakh crore, one-fifth or Rs 30,000 crore is on account of the current Lok Sabha election. One-third of this total amount, or Rs 45,000-50,000 crore, has been spent on state assembly elections, CMS found. About Rs 30,000 crore has been spent on panchayat polls, Rs 20,000 crore for mandals, Rs 15,000 crore for municipal elections and a further Rs 10,000 crore for zilla parishads, it added.
“In a typical Lok Sabha poll, media campaigns (25%) and pre-poll expenditure by parties in power (20-25%) account for a big pie of the spending. “In smaller elections, things are different. Media spending is much lower and in the mandals and panchayats, rally expenses are virtually non-existent,” says Rao, who is tracking election spending since 1996.
Elaborating further, he said that the expenditure by political parties is less than 10% in local elections compared to 20% in a Lok Sabha election. “On the other hand, the funds spent by candidates to get nomination is much higher than in case of Lok Sabha,” he claimed. On corporate funding, CMS is of the view that spending by companies pick up significant pace where winning electors can influence legislation.
“The huge requirement of funds from parties to candidates and finally the way these expenses are dealt with shows that the party system has crumbled. When outside candidates fight polls from a place they are not aware of, note-for-vote happens in a big way. Unless election expenses are properly accounted for, there is no way to ensure good governance,” Rao said.
There have already been many cases where the Election Commission has confiscated bundles of cash and other items across the country and it is keeping a close tab on any possible use of unaccounted cash and other incentives to lure voters during elections, which have traditionally been very expensive affairs in India.
According to the CMS study, more than Rs 1,50,000 crore has been spent across various elections held in India over the past five years. “This is a conservative estimate. Out of this huge amount, more than half is black money. The black money funding for polls is the mother of all corruption in our nation,” CMS Chairman N Bhaskara Rao told PTI.
Of this Rs 1.5 lakh crore, one-fifth or Rs 30,000 crore is on account of the current Lok Sabha election. One-third of this total amount, or Rs 45,000-50,000 crore, has been spent on state assembly elections, CMS found. About Rs 30,000 crore has been spent on panchayat polls, Rs 20,000 crore for mandals, Rs 15,000 crore for municipal elections and a further Rs 10,000 crore for zilla parishads, it added.
“In a typical Lok Sabha poll, media campaigns (25%) and pre-poll expenditure by parties in power (20-25%) account for a big pie of the spending. “In smaller elections, things are different. Media spending is much lower and in the mandals and panchayats, rally expenses are virtually non-existent,” says Rao, who is tracking election spending since 1996.
Elaborating further, he said that the expenditure by political parties is less than 10% in local elections compared to 20% in a Lok Sabha election. “On the other hand, the funds spent by candidates to get nomination is much higher than in case of Lok Sabha,” he claimed. On corporate funding, CMS is of the view that spending by companies pick up significant pace where winning electors can influence legislation.
“The huge requirement of funds from parties to candidates and finally the way these expenses are dealt with shows that the party system has crumbled. When outside candidates fight polls from a place they are not aware of, note-for-vote happens in a big way. Unless election expenses are properly accounted for, there is no way to ensure good governance,” Rao said.
