LS Polls: U'khand CEO orders increased monitoring of liquor sales, seizures

Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer BVRC Purushottam has instructed Excise Commissioner Prashant Arya to increase monitoring of the sale and seizure of liquor across the state in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

While giving instructions to install CCTV, etc., at the check posts for monitoring, he also instructed to provide daily reports to his office, an official statement said on Saturday.

"The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has instructed the Excise Department officials to compulsorily upload the progress report of the action taken against illegal liquor in all the districts on the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) portal every day," the statement read.

The CEO also directed that the sudden increase in liquor sales should be monitored by analyzing the daily sales in liquor shops for the last two years.

"He gave strict instructions to complete the training programs of excise officers and nodal officers in the next 2-3 days. While giving instructions to ensure the tracking of vehicles, he said that there should be continuous cooperation with the police department," it added.

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar issued a stern warning to political parties last week, emphasizing a "zero-tolerance policy" towards the "misuse of money" during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The Commission has urged all the political parties, their leaders, and the contesting candidates to remain within the confines of the Model Code of Conduct and the legal framework. It has been emphasised that any genres of surrogate or indirect violation of MCC and surrogate means to plumate level of the election campaign will be dealt with stern action by the Commission," the poll body said in a statement earlier.

The Lok Sabha elections are likely to be held in April-May.