New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Ahead of the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections on November 6 and by-elections in seven states, the ECI said on Monday that flying squads have seized cash, liquor and freebies worth over Rs 108 crore before these could be distributed in violation of the model code of conduct.

“As on November 3, over Rs 108.19 crore worth of illicit inducements including, Rs 9.62 crore in cash, liquor worth Rs 42.14 crore (9.6 lakh litre), drugs worth Rs 24.61 crore, precious metals worth Rs 5.8 crore and other freebies worth over Rs 26 crores have been seized through a coordinated approach involving multi-enforcement agencies across different States/UTs,” said the Election Commission of India.

As many as 824 flying squads have been deployed across Bihar to ensure that the complaints reported on the C-VIGIL portal of the ECI are attended to within 100 minutes.

The crackdown against poll code violation and seizures is continuing in seven States/UTs where by-elections to fill eight Assembly seats are scheduled on November 11, the ECI said.

The Commission has directed all the Enforcement Authorities to strictly monitor and combat movement of cash, drugs, liquor and other inducements during elections, said an official statement.

The ECI also stressed that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection for the enforcement of these directives.

According to the poll panel, citizens/political parties can report poll code violations using the C-Vigil App on ECINET.

A complaint monitoring system has been set up, including a Call Centre number 1950, in which complaints can be lodged by any member of the public or political party, with the DEO/RO concerned. This system is operational 24X7, said the statement.

The 2025 Assembly elections are the first in Bihar after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which produced a final voter list of 7.43 crore electors, including 14 lakh first-time voters.

To counter misinformation, the poll panel announced measures to tackle fake news, particularly on social media, at the district level. Each of the 243 constituencies will now have a dedicated observer, replacing the previous arrangement where one observer monitored multiple seats.

–IANS

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