AMID THE POLITICAL BATTLE, A STORM OF ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS ERUPTS WITH SEIZURE OF Rs. 108 CRORE

AMID THE POLITICAL BATTLE, A STORM OF ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS ERUPTS WITH SEIZURE OF Rs. 108 CRORE

4-NOV-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA----------------------The excitement surrounding the 2025 Bihar Assembly General Elections is at its peak. Today is the last day of campaigning, but despite the implementation of the code of conduct across the state, illegal activities appear to be in check. While political parties in the race for power are resorting to every trick in the book to woo voters, the Election Commission's vigilant eye has so far seized illegal assets worth over ₹100 crore, raising serious questions about discipline in the election environment.

According to the Election Commission, items worth over ₹108.19 crore, including cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, and other freebies, have been seized in Bihar so far. These include ₹12.08 lakh in cash, ₹120.4 lakh in liquor, ₹89 lakh in drugs, and ₹13.1 lakh in freebies. A total of ₹234.3 lakh in illegal assets have been seized so far, exposing the dark underbelly of electoral money power.

The Election Commission stated that this action is the result of a joint operation by various enforcement agencies. As soon as the election schedule was announced, the state government and all agencies were given strict instructions that any laxity in enforcing the Model Code of Conduct would not be tolerated.

824 flying squad teams have been deployed across the state to take prompt action on complaints related to the Model Code of Conduct. The Commission claims that action is taken on any complaint within 100 minutes to ensure that the sanctity of democracy is not tarnished.

The Commission has also ensured that citizens are not inconvenienced during the action. Additionally, the public and political parties can lodge complaints of code of conduct violations through the C-VIGIL mobile app and call center number 1950. This system reaches the District Election Officer and Returning Officer directly through a 24x7 monitoring system.

In this political season, when promises and slogans are at their peak, this Commission's campaign sends a strong message: elections are a festival of democracy, not a business.

The eyes of the people of Bihar are now fixed before the results to see whether this strict enforcement of the law will truly ensure a fair political arena, or whether money power and alcoholism will once again override the limits of democracy.