Summary:
He distributed the money to voters in the presence of leaders of all castes who pledged their votes in front of a local temple. After voting, they could exchange the Rs 50 note for Rs 2,000,” the official said. “In last year’s bypoll in Ballari, voters were each given a Rs 50 note with a particular marker. Contestants spend smaller amounts of money on individual voters only a couple of days before polling.An election commission official said candidates are innovating by distributing money to voters via digital wallets. Now it is all “mass vote buying” in which contestants target clusters of voters in social and religious organisations, Dalit colonies, slums, minority groups, labourers and self-help groups, the sources said..