 "Ram Dayal Uikey")
Ahead of the second phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, the police seized cash worth Rs 11.50 lakh from the vehicle of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Korba district on Thursday.
A police official said that former MLA Ram Dayal Uikey, the BJP nominee from the Pali-Tanakhar seat in Korba district, was in the vehicle when the cash was seized.
Korba Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla said, "Some local villagers intercepted Uikey's vehicle (an SUV) near Jhunkidi village under Pasan police station area (Pali-Tanakhar constituency) and informed the police at 1 am."
Shukla said that when the police arrived and searched the vehicle, they found cash worth Rs 11.50 lakh. He added that the money and the vehicle were seized after Uikey failed to produce documents supporting the cash. He said that further investigation is being done.
Pali-Tanakhar is one of the 70 constituencies that will go to the polls on Friday in the second phase of the state elections.
Uikey was elected as a BJP MLA from Marwahi seat in 1998. He later joined the Congress and vacated his seat for Ajit Jogi in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly after the latter was sworn in as the state's first chief minister in 2000.
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In 2018, Uikey returned to the BJP and contested from Pali-Tanakhar but lost to the Congress nominee. The BJP has re-nominated him from that same district. The Congress has denied a ticket to its sitting MLA and fielded a woman candidate, Duleshwari Sidar.
Meanwhile, officials said that since October 9, they have seized unaccounted cash, illicit liquor and other items worth Rs 73.90 crore.
Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases, with results declared on December 3. The first phase of polling for 20 seats concluded on November 7, and the remaining 70 seats will see voting on November 17. The Model Code of Conduct has already come into effect in Chhattisgarh.
