397 ‘crorepati’ candidates in fray

As many as 397 crorepati candidates are in the fray for the Gujarat assembly elections, an analysis of their election affidavits done by two NGOs has found.

Of the total 1,828 candidates trying their luck in the two-phased Assembly polls, 1,098 nominees have passed class 12 or below. Also, there are only 118 women candidates in the fray, according to the report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Gujarat Election Watch (GEW).

While 198 out of the total 977 candidates of the first phase have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, 199 nominees out of the total 851 of second phase have emerged as ‘crorepati’ as per the analysis of their affidavits conducted by the NGOs.

As per the study, 131 of these 397 ‘crorepati’ candidates have declared assets worth over Rs 5 crore, while 124 others have shown movable and immovable assets in the range of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore.

While the ruling BJP has given tickets to 142 ‘crorepati’ candidates, the opposition Congress has fielded 127 such nominees

The NCP has given tickets to 17 crorepati candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded 13 such candidates and the BSP to five.

The report said that 56 independent candidates also fall under this category. The remaining ‘crorepati’ candidates belong to lesser known parties or outfits.