The Election Commissioner of India has said that, of the total Rs 70 crore seized from the five states which had elections, Rs 60 crore was from Tamil Nadu alone.
The Income Tax department, which is working closely with the EC, earlier said it seized another Rs 15.06 crore. The remaining amount was in small seizures made across the state.
In neighboring Kerala, which went to polls on April 13, about Rs 65 lakh had been seized.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the total amount of black money seized across the country was over Rs 100 crore with the majority cases reported from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
It is interesting to note how the money was distributed. Direct credit to a voter’s bank account, payment of utility bills, recharging of mobile phones were all resorted to.
The other methods by which cash was transferred for votes including speed post service to send cash speedily. In a village near Madurai, officials seized plastic tokens in three different colours denoting a particular denomination to be redeemed at a particular shop.
To escape the scrutiny of the flying squads, ambulances and even police vehicles had been used to ferry the money. In some places, power was switched off at night to facilitate cash distribution, reports say.
In a big haul early this month, officials seized cash worth Rs 5.11 crore kept on the rooftop of an empty bus in Tiruchirapalli.
Though the EC claimed that money distribution was prevented to a great extent, political commentators say the money was distributed nevertheless. The political parties are said to have distributed between Rs 200 and Rs 1,000, depending on the constituency.
Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar earlier told the media: “This time, money distribution has gone underground and we have done our best to prevent it. I don’t know whether the money distribution could be prevented even if we post one policeman per house.” Around 62,000 cases have been registered in Tamil Nadu, of which 700 pertain to money distribution.
