YSRC, Telugu Desam top the list for distributing money, liquor to influence voters

Even as officials of the Income tax department and police are busy establishing links between the cash and political parties, so far Rs 5.55 crore has been attributed to the YSRC and Rs 5.49 crore to the TD.

The Rs 1.9 crore of seized cash has been attributed to the Congress, Rs 31.9 lakh to the BJP, Rs 82.65 lakh to the Congress. Even the CPI and CPM have not remained above board as they too have been guilty of distributing Rs 4.15 lakh and Rs 2.24 lakh respectively.

Of the total Rs 160 crore of unaccounted money seized during the poll period in the state, the Election Commission so far has linked Rs 50 crore to different political parties based on circumstantial evidences.

“These cases will be dealt with in the fast track court so that criminal charges can be completed with 6-12 months unlike earlier,” said AP chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal.

Sources, meanwhile, said that the amount of cash circulated was much more as the Income Tax officials are increasingly finding leads from the cash seizure cases.

One such link was found from the major cash seizure of Rs 3.74 crore at Siddhartha Academy in Vijayawada.

“Through various transactions related to the case (Rs 3.74 crore), another Rs 10 crore of unaccounted money has been found in bank accounts. Presently, we have frozen these bank accounts and are verifying more documents,” said an Income Tax official associated with poll duty.

Besides the Rs 3.74 cr-ore seized on poll day, there were several other simultaneous seizures: East Godavari Rs 1.36 crore, West Godavari Rs 1.58 crore, Kurnool Rs 84 lakh and Kadapa Rs 56 lakh.

Interestingly, the number of cash seizures shot up on poll day because supporters of the two rival parties in Seemandhra informed the authorities about the cash in a move to damage each other.

“The information about the Rs 3.74 crore was passed on to me in an envelope by an unidentified person. The envelope mentioned each and every detail of the cash placed in a certain room in the Siddhartha Academy. Following which I immediate alerted the concerned collector,” said a senior Election Commission official.