BENGALURU:
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect with the announcement of the Karnataka Assembly elections. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena here on Wednesday (March 29) said that cumulatively articles worth nearly Rs 58 crore have been seized so far by enforcement agencies in Karnataka.
He added: “The Police Department has seized items worth Rs 34.4 crore, Rs 14 crore cash, 530 kgs drugs, 15 kg gold, 135 kg silver and freebies worth Rs 11.2 crore, the overall seizure by the Excise Department has touched Rs 10.9 crore.”
The Income Tax Department has seized cash worth Rs 1.16 crore, the Commercial Tax department has recorded an overall seizure of Rs 5.02 crore. The other seizures include Rs 1.03 crore by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Rs 57.15 lakh by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Rs 3.97 crore by the Central Board Of Indirect Taxes and Customs and Rs 69.4 lakh by State Civil Aviation, Meena said.
He also said that measures are being put in place to ensure that Model code of conduct is not violated by political parties, candidates, bureaucrats and others.
Meena said: “The State nodal officers have booked cases against for trying to influence voters. Besides cash, items like liquor, narcotics, precious metals and freebies such as cookers and sarees, among other items, have been seized. A total of 1,985 FIRs have been filed since March 9 till March 27. Around 2,040 flying squads, 2,605 static surveillance teams, 266 video viewing teams, 631 video surveillance teams and 225 accounting teams have been put in place. Of the total 942 checkposts, 171 have been set up at inter-state borders to track the movement and distribution of goods and monetary transactions to ensure inducement-free elections.”
File Complaints through cVigil mobile application
The CEO requested people to file complaints on Model Code of Conduct violations using the cVIGIL mobile application. The app provides time-stamped evidentiary proof of the MCC/expenditure violation by empowering every citizen to click a photo or video using his or her smartphone. The application is based on GIS technology, and the unique feature of auto location provides fairly correct information which can be relied upon by flying squads to navigate to the right spot of incidence and take prompt action,” he added.
