Indian authorities seize more than $1 billion in illegal voting incentives, including drugs and cash, in the country’s elections

• Indian authorities seized more than a billion dollars in cash, drugs and goods in the country’s elections.

• The amount exceeded the total seized during all of the last general elections in 2019.

• The winner of the election will be announced on June 4.

The Electoral Commission of India (ECI) said it has seized 88.9 billion rupees, or about $1.1 billion, worth of drugs, cash and other assets such as precious metals and alcoholic beverages as part of its efforts to end incentives illegal to vote in the country’s general elections.

The Indian government’s Press Information Office said in a statement Press release on Saturday that “the Election Commission’s determined and concerted attack on the power of money and incentives in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections has resulted in staggering seizures worth Rs 8,889 crore by the agencies.”

The commission stated that it has adopted a “zero tolerance” approach to any form of incentive that may influence voters”, adding that the amount has already exceeded the total seized during all the last general elections in 2019.

The statement adds that drugs accounted for 45% of the value of seizures so far.

The winner of India’s general elections, which began on April 19 and ends on June 1, will be announced on June 4.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to emerge victorious once again, which would see Narendra Modi73, returns for a third term as prime minister.

These are the largest democratic elections in the world, with almost 970 million people eligible to vote.

During Modi’s tenure, India has become an increasingly important global power, overtaking Britain to become the world’s fifth largest economy and forge increasingly stronger relations with the US, which wants India as a key ally against China.

But critics of the prime minister and his party say he is a divisive figure who has sought to demonize minorities in the country.

O Economist Intelligence Unit said in a report in May that it believed the BJP’s re-election had “the potential to deepen communal divisions within the country”, noting “the party’s Hindu nationalist agenda” and past instances of unrest.

He added that “although multinationals remain cautious about India’s domestic track record in communal relations, its large market and growing economy will overshadow these considerations.”

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