Andhra Pradesh has something to be really mortified about. Cheap liquor flows in hundreds of liters. Gone are the days of the humble biriyani with brandy packages. Our leaders are leaving no stone unturned to lure the new-age voters.

The ongoing vigilance and seizure of election related cash, liqueur, cheap liquor, gold, silver,  Gutka packets  for the men folk  and special sops for female voters which include sarees, gas cylinders, artificial jewelry, steel utensils , coolers ,TV sets and other fancy items  is increasing by the day.

The  unaccounted poll-related cash  and other items like gold, silver and liqueur seized by the authorities after the Election Code of Conduct came into place is more that a staggering Rs. 80  Crore. Now with the back-to back Municipal, MPTC and ZTPC polls along with the Assembly and Parliamentary elections happening, it has become a tough task for the Election officials to keep a tab on the movement of the cash and other items going around the State. Additional forces have been steeped up to prevent these activities.

Now the heights of innovating political bribing targeting the youth, reached its peaks when the owner of Kesineni Travels, Kesineni Nani and another leader’s house was raided - hundreds of cricket kits were seized and these Kits had the pictures of both the Assembly and local body candidates printed on it. Now someone needs to give them a lesson on being discreet.  By the end of the polls looks like the Police and vigilance and Income tax departments coffers will be full till those who come back to claim them with proper documentation.

As usual the State Election Office has called for a meeting on March 27th to discuss how to curb these inflows and we have to wait and see how much would have piled up before that.