Hyderabad, April 15: Throwing all regulations to the winds, political parties distributed money, liquor and sports kits to voters on the eve of first phase of polls.
The police also tried its best to thwart the attempts of candidates and their followers to woo voters with inducements.
Till evening, police and excise officials seized 2.22 crore cash and liquor worth Rs 2 lakh from across the state.
Guntur police seized Rs 1.5 crore from a truck loaded with cotton. The cash bundles were stacked under the cotton bales.
According to the Guntur superintendent of police, Mr M.C. Ladha, the persons arrested while shipping the cash said it allegedly belonged to the Congress MLA, Mr Gottipati Ravi Kumar.
Similarly, the Warangal police also seized cash worth Rs 35.05 lakh in three different places.
The chief electoral officer, Dr I.V. Subba Rao, told mediapersons that the authorities had returned cash worth Rs 4.47 crore to people after they submitted proof of source of income. “This indicates that we are keeping only unaccounted cash,” he said.
Meanwhile, the cash seizure drive by police came in for sharp criticism from unexpected quarters – the Left parties.
The Communist Party of India state secretary, Mr K. Narayana, criticised the police for troubling him when he was found with cash in Nalgonda.
Mr Narayana said as per rules, people could carry cash worth Rs 40,000. However, he was let off only after the superintendent of police intervened, said the CPI leader.
The Dhone police seized mobile phones worth Rs 60,37,550 from two autorickshaws near the town. Police also seized Rs 6 lakh from a person.
According to the figures released by the chief electoral officer, the police seized Rs 26.22 crore till Tuesday of which Rs 14.5 crore was from 13 districts going for polls in the first phase and Rs 11.63 crore from 10 districts going for polls in the second phase. Prakasam topped list with Rs 2.39 crore.
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