Although assembly elections and by-elections were announced on March 15, the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) became operational on February 26, the commission stated.
Since its inception, illicit inducements valued at over ₹ 408.82 crore have been seized. This includes ₹ 17.44 crore in cash, liquor valued at ₹ 37.68 crore (16.3 lakh litres), drugs worth ₹ 167.38 crore, precious metals worth ₹ 23 crore, and various other freebies amounting to over ₹ 163.30 crore, as reported by the EC.
Moreover, from March 15 to 25, a total of 70,944 complaints were registered using the cVigil app. Of these, 70,831 have been addressed, and 67,899 complaints—95.8%—were resolved in under 100 minutes, the report indicated.
cVIGIL is a mobile app created by the EC to empower citizens in reporting violations of the model code of conduct during elections.
Next month, assembly elections are scheduled to take place in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala.