CHENNAI: Income tax officials have started monitoring cash movement in three Assembly seats, Thiruparankundram, Thanjavur and Aravakurichi, and the election department officials have also requested bank officials to disclose high cash transactions, a senior official said. Chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni on Thursday conducted a confidential meeting with top bank representatives at secretariat instructing bankers to share the details of the high cash transactions. He also advised banks not to move cash in large numbers in districts that are now covered under model code of conduct. Any movement of cash consignment has to be informed to the local district collector.
The CEO also advised bankers to promote fund transfers among their customers so that large-scale physical cash transactions can be avoided, the official said adding that the government machinery had also been instructed not to release local area development funds allocated to MPs (including Rajya Sabha) and member of legislative assemblies till the election process is completed.
“From Monday, all bank transactions will be under scanner and the election expenditure monitoring system is already in place”, CEO Rajesh Lakhoni told Deccan Chronicle. Based on our previous experiences more stringent mechanism will be put in place to ensure that the polls are conducted in a free and fair manner, the CEO added. With final rolls published by district collectors Thiruparankundram with 2.85 lakh electors will have the maximum number of voters followed by Thanjavur and Aravakurichi with 2.68 and 2 lakh voters.
