Unaccounted cash and illegal goods worth about Rs 111 crore have been seized on separate occasions so far in poll-bound Telangana, officials said Monday. According to an official release, the State has sought 279 companies of central forces and as of now 240 have arrived. They would assist 30,000 local police personnel on duty for the December 7 Telangana assembly polls.

“Money influence in elections in India is going up. There is no denying of that. If you see the cash and goods’ seizure figures, it was Rs 76 crore during 2014 elections in combined Andhra Pradesh.... ,” Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. He said any contesting candidate is allowed to spend up to Rs 28 lakh while there is no limit for a party on election expenditure.

Replying to a query, Kumar said there are 38 constituencies in the state under Left wing extremist influence while some are expenditure-sensitive according to previous history. Kodangal, from where state congress working president Revanth Reddy is contesting, is a “politically sensitive” constituency, he said.

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First Published: Dec 04, 2018 14:10 IST