EC recovers nearly Rs 100 cr in Tamil Nadu ahead of elections

Electoral authorities have recovered an "unprecedented" amount of Rs 98 crore in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, with the Election Commission deploying more personnel to check if monetary benefits were being offered to voters.

The polling will be held in the state on 16 May.

Electoral authorities today said Rs 98 crore has been recovered by election, income tax, and police officials since the model code of conduct came into effect on 4 March after the announcement of polls dates.

Out of Rs 98 crore, Rs 37 crore had been returned after proper documents were submitted, while the rest has been deposited in the state treasury, they said.

The Election Commission has pressed into service 6,112 flying squads and static surveillance teams in an apparent effort to prevent illegal flow of money.

These teams have not only recovered cash but have seized gold, silver, dress material and rice bags, among others.

Raids have been conducted at several places, including those belonging to AIADMK and DMK, as the Election Commission is strongly batting for ethical voting.

On Tuesday, 1.64 crore voters, including Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu, Rajesh Lakhoni, IAS, and many others took a pledge for ethical voting, saying they will not accept cash for their votes.

The "No Note for Vote" campaign saw 1,64,32,213 persons across 1,07,517 locations in the state taking the ethical voting pledge, officials said today, adding Tamil Nadu has "created history."

EC is also leaving no stone unturned to achieve its "#TN100percent" voting mission on May 16 and has reached out to voters through various campaigns, roping in celebrities and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter for the awareness programme, besides coming out with innovative posters to attract youth.

The EC has even ensured that such screen savers are put on bank ATMs.

-With inputs from PTI