Model Code of Conduct comes into force in Karnataka; items worth nearly ₹58 crore seized so far

With the announcement of the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect. Measures are being put in place to ensure it is not violated by political parties, candidates, bureaucrats and others, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena here on Wednesday (March 29).

With the announcement of the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect. Measures are being put in place to ensure it is not violated by political parties, candidates, bureaucrats and others, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena here on Wednesday (March 29).

With money power being flagged as a major challenge in Karnataka, the CEO told a media conference that 2,040 flying squads, 2,605 static surveillance teams, 266 video viewing teams, 631 video surveillance teams and 225 accounting teams have been put in place. Of the total 942 checkposts, 171 have been set up at inter-state borders to track the movement and distribution of goods and monetary transactions to ensure inducement-free elections.

Cumulatively articles worth nearly  ₹58 crore have been seized so far by enforcement agencies in Karnataka. “As per the ECI’s direction, the enforcement agencies were asked to act upon various election-related fraudulent activities. Accordingly, the State nodal officers have acted and booked cases against those who have tried to influence voters. Besides cash, items like liquor, narcotics, precious metals and freebies such as cookers and sarees, among other items, have been seized. A total of 1,985 FIRs have been filed since March 9 till March 27,” the CEO said.

While the Police Department has seized items worth ₹34.4 crore, cash worth ₹ 14 crore, 530 kgs drugs, 15 kg gold, 135 kg silver and freebies worth ₹ 11.2 crore, the overall seizure by the Excise Department has touched ₹10.9 crore.

Similarly, while the Income Tax Department has seized cash worth ₹1.16 crore, the Commercial Tax department has recorded an overall seizure of ₹5.02 crore. The other seizures include ₹1.03 crore by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, ₹57.15 lakh by the Narcotics Control Bureau, ₹3.97 crore by the Central Board Of Indirect Taxes and Customs and ₹69.4 lakh by State Civil Aviation, the CEO said.

Mr. Meena said people can file complaints on Model Code of Conduct violations using the cVIGIL mobile application. “This app provides time-stamped evidentiary proof of the MCC/expenditure violation by empowering every citizen to click a photo or video using his or her smartphone. The application is based on GIS technology, and the unique feature of auto location provides fairly correct information which can be relied upon by flying squads to navigate to the right spot of incidence and take prompt action,” he explained.

This app prioritizes speedy and effective action by authorities and promises users status reports within 100 minutes. The application is available on both the Google Play and Apple App Store.