189 crorepatis, 116 with criminal cases are in fray

Many tainted candidates will vie for assembly berths when the Bundelkhand region goes to polls in the fourth phase on Feb 23

LUCKNOW: Bundelkhand region, which goes to polls in the fourth phase, has emerged as the badlands of Uttar Pradesh with 116 candidates having criminal records vying for a berth this election.

“The number of tainted contestants had shown a steady decline so far. But unfortunately, Bundelkhand region, which accounts for 53 assembly constituencies, has changed that trend,” laments Sanjay Singh of UP Election Watch, a citizen’s watchdog body.

Of the 680 candidates in fray, whose affidavits were scrutinised by UPEW along with Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) for the fourth phase, where polling will take place on February 23, 116 contestants (17 percent) have criminal charges against them.

Fourteen per cent of these aspirants have charges related to murder, attempt to murder, crime against women and kidnapping pending against them. Compared to their presence in the first three phases, the graph of criminals has gone up by five per cent.

The BJP tops the list with 19 (40 per cent) criminal contestants out of the 48 candidates it has given tickets to from the region followed by 13 (39 per cent) of Samajwadi Party, 12 BSP and eight by Congress.

“Despite literacy and awareness drives, lack of education among those fighting elections is also a cause of concern,” said Singh. Only 47 per cent contestants are graduates, six illiterates and another 42 per cent just 5th of 12th pass. Candidates with money and muscle power rule the roost in Bundelkhand, which is one of the most backward regions of Uttar Pradesh.

The report by advocacy group says a total of 189 crorepati candidates from 98 political parties including six national, five regional, 87 unrecognised parties and 200 independent candidates are in the fray.

Of these 45 out of 53 candidates belong to BSP, 36 of 48 from BJP, 26 of 33 from SP, 17 of 25 from INC, 6 of 39 candidates from Rashtriya Lok Dal and 25 of 200 Independent candidates have declared assets worth more than ₹1 crore. The average assets per candidate contesting in the fourth phase of assembly elections are ₹1.90 crore. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded maximum such candidates followed by the SP and the Congress.

The analysis shows that 45 (85%) of 53 BSP candidates, 36 (75%) of 48 BJP candidates, 26 (79%) of 33 SP candidates and 17 (68%) of 25 Congress candidates in the fray are ‘crorepatis’.

“Likewise, 6 (15%) out of 39 RLD candidates and 25 (13%) of 200 independent candidates have declared assets worth more than ₹1 crore each,” informed major general (retd) Anil Verma, head of National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms.

“Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for 25 Congress candidates is ₹5.98 crore, 48 BJP candidates is ₹5.96 crore, 53 BSP candidates have average assets of ₹5.82 crore, 33 SP candidates have average assets worth ₹4.29 crore, 39 RLD candidates have average assets worth ₹75.76 lakh, and 200 independent candidates have average assets of ₹1 crore,” he added.

The three richest candidates are Independent Subhash Chandra with total assets of over Rs 70 crore, followed by Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi of BJP (over Rs 57 crore) and BSP’s Mohammed Masroor Shaikh (over Rs 32 crore). The polls in this phase also have one candidate from the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Indrakar Mishra from Pratapgarh constituency who has declared zero assets in his affidavit.

A total of 171 candidates have not declared their PAN details. Out of 680 candidates analysed, 116 have declared criminal cases against themselves, ADR report said. The report further said that 95 candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women among others.