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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2026

NEW DELHI – The value of cash and goods such as liquor, drugs, and precious metals seized by law-enforcement authorities in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since the assembly elections were announced Mar. 15 is more than INR 10 billion, the Election Commission of India said Wednesday. These goodies were meant to be distributed among voters as bribes.

In West Bengal, INR 274.8 million in cash, 3.9 million litres of liquor worth INR 1.02 billion, drugs worth INR 1.08 billion, precious metals worth INR 559 million, and other goods valued at INR 1.79 billion were seized, the poll panel said in a release.

In Tamil Nadu, INR 1 billion in cash, 117,713 litres of liquor worth INR 38.5 million, drugs costing around INR 767.2 million, precious metals worth INR 1.59 billion, and other goods valued at INR 2.59 billion were seized till Wednesday, according to the poll panel.

Tamil Nadu will vote for all its 234 assembly seats Thursday. In West Bengal, polling will take place in two phases. In the first phase Thursday, electors in 152 of the state's 294 constituencies will cast their votes. Voting for the remaining 142 seats will take place on Apr. 29. The results will be declared on May 4.  End

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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