New Delhi : With the schedule announced for the seven-phase Lok Sabha Elections, the spotlight has also turned on the money, misinformation, muscle power and model code violations that the contesting political parties are likely to resort to so as to get an upper hand over the rivals. The Election Commission of India (ECI), which has announced the poll schedule for the 20214 general election, has issued a cautionary warning on this front.
The ECI has announced various steps to eliminate misuse of money and muscle power. Besides, it also taking additional steps as the rival parties are also resorting to blatant misuse of the social media and committing code violations. Against this backdrop, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has said that the ECI will make every effort to confront these malpractices in order to ensure a free and fair election.
There was an alarming increase in the misuse of money in the assembly elections held in the past few years. According to the ECI, seizure of money exponentially increased by 835% to Rs 3,400 crore in the elections held to the 11 state Assemblies from 2022-`23 to 2017-'18. The seizure of money went up by a whopping 6,295 percent to Rs 74 crore in Meghalaya state poll, which is the highest among the 11 States.
The money seizures in the 10 other states rose by 2,847 percent to Rs 802 crore in Gujarat, 951 percent to Rs 704 crore in Rajasthan, 506 percent to Rs 778 crore in Telangana, 898 percent to Rs 332 crore in Madhya Pradesh, 358 percent to Rs 384 crore in Karnataka, 1,142 percent to Rs 78 crore in Chhattisgarh, 534 percent to Rs 57 crore in Himachal Pradesh, 1,063 percent to Rs 50 crore in Nagaland, 2,695 percent to Rs 123 crore in Mizoram and 2,439 percent to Rs 45 crore in Tripura.
Following this, the ECI took several measures and even launched a mobile app to digitize data for intercepted and seized items, which include cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies.
Also, the every growing influence of illegal digital payments has become a major concern. The ECI has decided to place a tight vigil on suspicious online transactions and money transfers to curb the misuse of money in the elections.
To the address the problem of muscle power, the ECI is taking effectively steps like webcasting in sensitive booths covering a minimum 50 percent of total polling stations. The other measures include adequate deployment of CAPFs, execution of pending NBWs, surrender of arms and surveillance of history sheeters. There will be a network of check posts across the country. Drone-based checking will be in force at the borders.
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