Election Commission of India. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday (November 3, 2025) said enforcement agencies had seized cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, and other freebies estimated at more than ₹100 crore from poll-bound Bihar and other States where Assembly byelections are scheduled to be held this month.
The commission said that as on November 3, illicit inducements estimated at more than ₹108.19 crore, including ₹9.62 crore in cash, liquor valued at ₹42.14 crore (9.6 lakh litres), drugs for ₹24.61 crore, precious metals estimated at ₹5.8 crore, and other freebies for ₹26 crore had been seized through a coordinated approach involving multi-enforcement agencies across different States and Union Territories.
The Assembly polls in Bihar will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. Byelections in eight constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Punjab, Telangana, and Rajasthan will be held on November 11.
A total of 824 flying squads had been deployed across Bihar to ensure that the complaints reported on the C-VIGIL app were attended to within 100 minutes, the poll body said. It has directed all enforcement authorities to strictly monitor and combat movement of cash, drugs, liquor, and other inducements during elections.
The ECI said authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens were not inconvenienced or harassed during checking and inspection.
Citizens and political parties could report violations of Model Code of Conduct using the C-Vigil app. A 24X7 complaint monitoring system had been set up. Complaints could also be registered on the voter helpline 1950.
Published – November 03, 2025 08:48 pm IST
