In what seems like blatant disregard for democratic norms, more cash has been seized in Thanjavur constituency ahead of the bypolls there. Vehicle checks by Thanjavur Revenue officials on Wednesday yielded Rs 15 lakh from a car travelling from Trichy to Thanjavur.
The driver claimed to be carrying the money to purchase wood for a woodply company, but failed to produce any documents to confirm this. The cash has been seized and deposited in the treasury.
The seizure comes just days after November 19 was announced as the polling date for four constituencies including Thanjavur and Aravakurichi.
In both these constituencies, elections had been cancelled in May after large-scale seizures of cash, liquor, silver and clothing. Besides these seizures, the EC had also cited many complaints from the public and from smaller parties that the AIADMK was making donations in violation of the code of conduct.
In Aravakurichi, officials seized a total of cash worth Rs 7.12 crore, silver worth Rs 9 lakh, and 429.24 litres of liquor. In Thanjavur, cash totaling Rs 75,20,850 and 2,145.12 litres of liquor was seized at Thanjavur constituency up to May 15.
Besides these seizures, the EC also cited complaints from the public and from candidates of smaller parties on other alternate means used to distribute money through donations and gifts.
The EC, in its statement issued then, had said that while elections had been cancelled due to rigging, violence or booth capturing, this was the first instance in which an election had been cancelled because of bribery of voters.
Ahead of the November 19 polls, 12 checkposts have been constituted in Thanjavur to enforce the model code of conduct.