Election Commission press release · 22 April 2026 · pibtracker filter

General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Seizures surpass Rs 1,000 crores in TN and WB

PRID2254524 MinistryElection Commission Released22 April 2026 Reading8 min

Posted On: 22 APR 2026 4:44PM by PIB Delhi Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections on March 15,2026. The Commission has directed the State/UT governments to ensure strict compliance with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). It may be recalled that the Commission has held multiple review meetings with the Chief Secretaries, CEOs, DGPs, and senior officers from the poll-going states/UTs and their bordering states/UTs along with the Heads of Enforcement Agencies and directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement free elections. To ensure this, over 5,011 (2,728 in WB and 2,283 in TN) Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) have been deployed across the two States to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes. Besides this, over 5,363 (3,142 in WB and 2,221 in TN) Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise Nakas at different locations. Since the activation of the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) on February 26, 2026, the data up to April 22, 2026 is presented below. S. No State Cash (Rs. Crore) Liquor Qty (Litres) Liquor Value (Rs. Crore) Drugs Value (Rs. Crore) Preciou s Metal (Rs. Crore) Freebies /Other (Rs. Crore) Total (Rs. Crore) 1. West Bengal 27.48 39,31,463 102.45 108.11 55.88 178.83 472.89 2. Tamil Nadu 100.19 1,17,713 3.85 76.72 159.31 259.14 599.24 TOTAL 127.67 40,49,176 106.3 184.83 215.19 437.97 1072.13 The Commission has also stressed that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection for the enforcement of these directives. District Grievance Committees have also been setup to address any grievances in this regard. Citizens/political parties can report MCC violations using the C-Vigil Module on ECINET . ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2254524) Visitor Counter : 1029 Read this release in: Telugu , Urdu , हिन्दी , Bengali , Punjabi , Gujarati , Tamil Election Commission General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Seizures surpass Rs 1,000 crores in TN and WB Posted On: 22 APR 2026 4:44PM by PIB Delhi Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections on March 15,2026. The Commission has directed the State/UT governments to ensure strict compliance with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). It may be recalled that the Commission has held multiple review meetings with the Chief Secretaries, CEOs, DGPs, and senior officers from the poll-going states/UTs and their bordering states/UTs along with the Heads of Enforcement Agencies and directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement free elections. To ensure this, over 5,011 (2,728 in WB and 2,283 in TN) Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) have been deployed across the two States to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes. Besides this, over 5,363 (3,142 in WB and 2,221 in TN) Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise Nakas at different locations. Since the activation of the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) on February 26, 2026, the data up to April 22, 2026 is presented below. S. No State Cash (Rs. Crore) Liquor Qty (Litres) Liquor Value (Rs. Crore) Drugs Value (Rs. Crore) Preciou s Metal (Rs. Crore) Freebies /Other (Rs. Crore) Total (Rs. Crore) 1. West Bengal 27.48 39,31,463 102.45 108.11 55.88 178.83 472.89 2. Tamil Nadu 100.19 1,17,713 3.85 76.72 159.31 259.14 599.24 TOTAL 127.67 40,49,176 106.3 184.83 215.19 437.97 1072.13 The Commission has also stressed that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection for the enforcement of these directives. District Grievance Committees have also been setup to address any grievances in this regard. Citizens/political parties can report MCC violations using the C-Vigil Module on ECINET . ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2254524) Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections on March 15,2026. The Commission has directed the State/UT governments to ensure strict compliance with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).</li>   <li>It may be recalled that the Commission has held multiple review meetings with the Chief Secretaries, CEOs, DGPs, and senior officers from the poll-going states/UTs and their bordering states/UTs along with the Heads of Enforcement Agencies and directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free and inducement free elections.</li>   <li>To ensure this, over 5,011 (2,728 in WB and 2,283 in TN) Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) have been deployed across the two States to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes. Besides this, over 5,363 (3,142 in WB and 2,221 in TN) Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise Nakas at different locations.</li>   <li>Since the activation of the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) on February 26, 2026, the data up to April 22, 2026 is presented below.</li>   <table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#ccc" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="Table" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:42.4pt"> S. No </td> <td style="width:99.15pt"> State </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> Cash (Rs. Crore) </td> <td style="width:70.85pt"> Liquor Qty (Litres) </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> Liquor Value (Rs. Crore) </td> <td style="width:49.75pt"> Drugs Value (Rs. Crore) </td> <td style="width:2.0cm"> Preciou s Metal (Rs. Crore) </td> <td style="width:63.8pt"> Freebies /Other (Rs. Crore) </td> <td style="width:58.4pt"> Total (Rs. Crore) </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:42.4pt"> 1. </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:99.15pt"> West Bengal </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.7pt"> 27.48 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:70.85pt"> 39,31,463 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.7pt"> 102.45 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.75pt"> 108.11 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:2.0cm"> 55.88 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:63.8pt"> 178.83 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:58.4pt"> 472.89 </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.4pt"> 2. </td> <td style="width:99.15pt"> Tamil Nadu </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> 100.19 </td> <td style="width:70.85pt"> 1,17,713 </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> 3.85 </td> <td style="width:49.75pt"> 76.72 </td> <td style="width:2.0cm"> 159.31 </td> <td style="width:63.8pt"> 259.14 </td> <td style="width:58.4pt"> 599.24 </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:42.4pt">   </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:99.15pt"> TOTAL </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.7pt"> 127.67 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:70.85pt"> 40,49,176 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.7pt"> 106.3 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:49.75pt"> 184.83 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:2.0cm"> 215.19 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:63.8pt"> 437.97 </td> <td style="background-color:#cccccc; width:58.4pt"> 1072.13 </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <li>The Commission has also stressed that the enforcement authorities should ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced or harassed during the checking and inspection for the enforcement of these directives. District Grievance Committees have also been setup to address any grievances in this regard.</li>   <li>Citizens/political parties can report MCC violations using the C-Vigil Module on ECINET.</li> ********** PK/GDH/RP " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); // } //} var synth = window.speechSynthesis; function CleanHtml(html) { html = html.replace(/ /gi, ''); return html; } function stripHtml(html) { let tmp = document.createElement("DIV"); tmp.innerHTML = CleanHtml(html); return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || ""; } $(document).ready(function () { //for responsive tables $("table").each(function () { if (!$(this).closest(".table-responsive").length) { $(this).wrap(" "); } }); var width = $(window).width(); if (width $(document).ready(function () { var width = $(window).width(); if (width @media print { .sticky-social, .sticky-social_mb, .pull-right, #printPDF { display: none !important; } } .f_vl { padding-right: 30px; font-size: 17px; cursor: pointer; } .log_oo { // width: 20%; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; } .log_oo img { width: 150px; /*width: 100%; height: auto;*/ } .sticky-social_mb { position: fixed; bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 100%; } .social_mb { list-style: none; display: flex; width: 100%; margin-bottom: -8px; } .social_mb a { padding: 8px 0px; font-size: 30px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; width: 20% !important; text-align: center; } .section1 { position: relative; padding: 10px 0px; width: 100%; } .sticky-social { position: fixed; top: 20px; left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } .social { list-style: none; } .social a li { padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 25px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; } .social a li:hover { margin-right: -30px; box-shadow: 2px 5px 10px grey; } .social a li:hover .fa { margin-left: 20px; } .fb_b { /* background-color: rgb(59, 89, 152);*/ background-color: rgba(65,103,178,255); } .twitter_r { /* background-color: rgb(29, 161, 242);*/ background-color: #000000; } .whatsapp_r { /* background-color: rgb(77, 194, 71);*/ background-color: rgba(13,191,67,255); } .fa-envelope_r { /* background-color: rgb(219, 68, 55);*/ background-color: #e2123d; } .fa-lin

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General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Seizures surpass Rs 1,000 crores in TN and WB

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