NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India has worked hard to implement free and fair elections for the legislative assemblies of the states of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. Strict implementation of checking and deployment of a huge number of security forces also ensured the safe conduct of the polling operations, which remained largely peaceful in the three states.
As the polling came to an end in the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland on the afternoon of February 27 and February 16 in the state of Tripura, the Election Commission of India announced that these states saw a huge increase in the amount of contraband seized ahead of the assembly polls.
They announced that the total seizure ahead of the 2023 elections in the three states saw a 23-fold increase when compared with the same in 2018. Drugs form the largest segment of the seized items in terms of market value. The election commission mentioned that contraband worth Rs 169.64 Cr was seized from the three states and drugs constituted for more than Rs 92 Cr out of that amount. Other items included alcohol and freebies meant to attract voters to vote for a particular candidate in the polls.
“For the first time, the Enforcement Directorate had set up a camp office in Kohima. The DRI conducted some big operations in Meghalaya and Nagaland where they seized heroin worth Rs 17.13 crore in East Khasi Hills and Rs 15.91 crore in Nagaland’s Chumukedima district,” mentioned an official of the Election Commission.
It is important to note that some local organisations and communities took up checking measures on their own in order to prevent the influx of alcohol in the state ahead of the elections. Some women communities of the Phek district were applauded by many for taking up such operations.
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