To curb money misuse, Election Commission declares 17 seats ‘sensitive’ in Punjab

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, January 19

Fearing that monetary power may hamper free and fair polls in Punjab, the Election Commission (EC) has listed 17 Assembly seats as “expenditure sensitive” constituencies.

The number has almost doubled as in the 2017 Assembly polls, there were just 10 such constituencies. The EC has prepared the list of 17 constituencies based on the inputs received from the Punjab Police and the state Excise Department.

The expenditure sensitive constituencies include Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s segment Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar, Former CM Parkash Singh Badal’s Lambi, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s Bathinda Urban and Transport Minister Raja Warring’s Gidderbaha, Agriculture Minister Kaka Randeep’s Amloh, former Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar’s Rampura Phul, PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Amritsar East, Deputy CM Om Parkash Soni’s Amritsar Central, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia’s Majitha and Home Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa’s Dera Baba Nanak.

Taking note of the situation, the EC has deployed 50 expenditure observers. It has also asked the Commissioners of Police and SSPs of the area concerned to submit route maps in the expenditure sensitive areas.

In the previous elections, a total of Rs 58.02 crore in cash was seized. The EC said there should be special vigil in the areas that had exhibited high cash seizures in the past.

Notably, the EC has conveyed the expenditure observers that the abuse of money power, particularly when it manifests in vote buying, is a major challenge that hollows democracy from within. “The commission is determined to curb this menace and it has issued detailed guidelines to monitor election expenditure incurred by candidates and political parties,” read an EC document.

Seizures made so far

• Cash worth Rs1.74 crore, 27,960-lt licit liquor, 6,476-lt illicit liquor, 1,088-kg poppy husk, 11-kg opium, 3,370-gm heroin, 123-gm smack, 2,940 capsules, 90 vials of syrup and 92,079 tablets have been seized so far, says CEO S Karuna Raju
• As many as 2,268 route/zone patrolling teams, 740 static surveillance teams, 792 flying squads and 351 video surveillance teams have been deployed to keep vigil, he adds