EC received over 7,000 complaints of poll-related complaints, most from Gujarat

The Election Commission of India has received 6,130 complaints from Gujarat and 1,040 from Himachal Pradesh in connection with election-related violations, data maintained by the body shows.

“At least 1,000 complaints were reported from Himachal Pradesh, out of which 862 were found to be correct and action was taken. Over 580 cases were reported for putting up posters and banners without permission and 185 were for money distribution,” an EC official said, requesting anonymity.

“In Gujarat, at least 6,000 cases were reported, out of which 5,100 cases were found to be correct. A total of 3,600 violations were related to putting up posters and banners without permissions,” said the official. The complaints were registered on the EC app cVIGIL. The Bharatiya Janata Party won Gujarat with 156 seats and the Congress won the hill state with 40 seats.

In Himachal, the highest number of complaints were received from Kangra region (238), followed by Bilaspur (213) and Hamirpur (149), with 644 complaints resolved in under 100 minutes with a 75% accuracy rate.

In Gujarat, the highest number of violations were reported from Surat (2,344), followed by Ahmedabad (1518) and Rajkot (333). Of the total complaints, 4,886 were resolved in under 100 minutes, with a 96% accuracy rate, EC officials familiar with the matter said.

The Election Commission had deployed 69 expenditure observers in Gujarat and 23 expenditure observers in Himachal Pradesh and conducted record seizures worth ₹801 crore and ₹57 crore in the two states respectively, according to the officials.

“The EC directed the coast guard, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Anti-Terrorist Squad to keep a close watch on such seizures (in Gujarat)… ATS seized a massive haul of drugs by busting illegal units in Vadodara which led to seizures of drugs amounting ₹478 crore.”

“Tightening of borders in Himachal Pradesh led to record hauls of liquor (5.04 lakh litres) in Kangra which borders Hoshiarpur district of Punjab and Sirmaur district (2.51 lakh litres) which borders Haryana and Uttarakhand,” said the official.