Police and surveillance teams deployed by the Election Commission have so far seized cash and jewellery worth Rs 10.49 crore, while more than 91,000 persons have been placed under preventive detention in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Gujarat, an official has said.
The model code of conduct has been in force since November 3 in the state where elections will be held in two phases – on December 1 and 5.
“From November 3 till November 25, local police along with flying and static surveillance teams of the EC have seized Rs 4.01 crore in cash and Rs 6.48 crore worth of jewellery. Various narcotic substances worth Rs 61 crore have also been seized,” an official release said on Friday.
The police have, so far, lodged more than 29,800 cases under Prohibition laws and arrested 24,170 persons with liquor worth Rs 13.51 crore. Liquor sale and consumption are completely banned in Gujarat.
In all, 91,154 persons have been put under preventive detention so far under various provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Gujarat Prohibition Act and Gujarat Police Act, the release added. Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the upcoming Assembly election in Gujarat is all about deciding the state’s destiny for the next 25 years.
Addressing a poll rally in Palanpur town of Banaskantha district in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, Modi said though many developmental works have been carried out so far by the ruling BJP in Gujarat and the Centre, time has come to take a “giant leap”. Voting in Banaskantha district will be held in the second phase on December 5. “This election is not about who will become an MLA or whose government will come. This election is all about deciding Gujarat’s destiny for the next 25 years,” Modi said.
The PM said he was making efforts to put Gujarat in the league of developed nations. “Time has come to take a giant leap now. And, I need your support to form a strong government in Gujarat. You don’t have to tell me your issues because I grew up here and I very well understand those issues. I appeal to you to make the BJP victorious in all the seats of Banaskantha,” said Modi, the BJP’s star campaigner for the Gujarat polls.
He said the BJP government in Gujarat has focussed on tourism, environment, water, cattle-rearing and nutrition aspects for the overall development of Banaskantha and the surrounding region. “In a very short span, we were able to solve the issues of water scarcity and electricity. Youngsters aged 20 to 25 years may not even know today how bad the situation was a few decades back,” Modi said.
