Liquor as poll bait under Delhi electoral office’s scanner

As Delhi is getting into the poll mode, the state election commission is keeping a close watch on people ferrying liquor bottles.

As Delhi is getting into the poll mode, the state election commission is keeping a close watch on people ferrying liquor bottles.

The Delhi electoral office has seized as many as 10,646 bottles of country liquor and 375 bottles of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the past 10 days alone.

These items were seized from October 5, a day after the poll dates were announced and the model code of conduct came into force.

Officials said action was taken against those who were found to be carrying more alcohol than what is permitted or people carrying liquor without a valid permit, which is necessary for carrying liquor bottles in bulk.

“We have already started taking action wherever we have found any violations. We have seized liquor bottles when they were being carried without any permit, which is a violation. After November 9, once the notification for candidates to file nomination is issued, there may be an increase in such cases,” said Ankur Garg, chief nodal officer (model code of conduct).

Officials said that of the 912 litres of country liquor seized by them, 48 were 275 ml, and 7,952 were 185ml bottles.

“Considering the fact that a huge quantity of country liquor bottles have been seized, we fear that political parties may have been planning to distribute them in slums and resettlement colonies. We are keeping a close watch on everyone,” said a senior official.

According to senior officials, 87 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor had been packed in 375 ml and 185 ml bottles.

The commission also cracked down on government vehicles being used for election purposes and action had been taken against seven offenders. In addition to this, they removed 4,414 posters from government buildings and 2,199 from private buildings.

“We have appraised the political parties about the model code of conduct and have given them details on what is allowed and what constitutes a violation,” said the official.