LUCKNOW: The recovery of crores of unaccounted cash from several parts of the state has exposed the blatant use of money to coerce voters, raising question marks over conduct of fair elections. The Election Commission had declared that it would try to prevent the use of black money, with the assistance of the police and income tax department, in the elections to the Assembly in five states, including Uttar Pradesh.
In the past 10 days more than Rs18 crore had been recovered by the police and the IT department sleuths from contractors and other individuals.
In most of the cases, the money carriers failed to come out with a convincing reply and hinted that is was being transported for political purposes.
UP has been infamous for the blatant use of muscle and money power in the elections and repeated measures by the judiciary and the election commission have failed to check this menace. This has resulted in the rise of MLAs with a criminal background to 155 in the present Assembly.