495 'crorepati' candidates in fray

NEW DELHI: Out of 1,463 candidates in poll fray for the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, 495 are 'crorepatis (millionaires)', a report claimed on Tuesday.

The report was released by the Bihar Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after analysing the self-sworn affidavits of all the 1,463 candidates, who are contesting in the Bihar Assembly Elections Phase II.

The second phase of the polls scheduled in the 94 Assembly constituencies in 17 districts is on November 3. The report claimed that out of the 1,463 candidates, 495, which is 34 per cent, are crorepatis.

According to the report, 118 candidates have assets worth Rs five crore and above, while 185 candidates have assets worth Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. It also said that 426 candidates have assets worth Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore and 462 candidates have assets worth Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

It pointed out that only 272 out of 1,463 candidates have assets less than Rs 10 lakh. The report said, "The BJP tops the list of the crorepati candidates and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with the least."

It said, "Out of 46 BJP candidates, 39, which is 85 per cent, are crorepatis followed by 20 out of the 24 candidates of the Congress, which is 83 per cent have assets worth over Rs one crore.

The report also highlighted that 46 out of 52 candidates of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is 82 per cent and 35 out of 43 candidates analysed from the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U), which is 81 per cent have assets more than Rs one crore.

Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has fielded 38 crorepati candidates out of 52 in the second phase, which is 73 per cent, followed by 11 out of the 33 candidates from the BSP, who have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore.

The report further said that the average of assets per candidate contesting in the Bihar Assembly Elections second phase is Rs 1.72 crore. The report noted that the average assets per candidate for 24 Congress candidates is Rs 10.25 crore, Rs 4.95 crore for 43 JD-U candidates, Rs 4.82 crore for 56 RJD candidates, Rs 3.86 crore for 52 LJP candidates, Rs 3.44 crore for 46 BJP candidates and Rs 1.30 crore for 33 BSP candidates.

According to the report, Congress' Sanjeev Singh, who is contesting from Vaishali Assembly seat is the richest with assets worth Rs 56 crore, followed by RJD's Deo Kumar Chaurasia, who is contesting from the Hajipur Assembly seat with assets worth Rs 49 crore. Congress' Anunay Sinha, who is contesting from the Paroo Assembly seat in Muzaffarpur is the third richest candidate with assets worth Rs 46 crore. The report also said that three candidates have declared zero assets in their affidavits.

It also highlighted that about 683, which is 47 per cent of the 1,463 candidates have declared liabilities in their affidavits. BJP's Chanpatia Assembly seat candidate Umakant Singh, who has assets worth Rs 15 crore has declared Rs 8 crore as liabilities, followed by Independent candidate Vijay Kumar Shukla from Lalganj Assembly seat, who has assets worth Rs 26 crore has liability worth Rs 6 crore. Even Congress' Bhagalpur Assembly candidate Ajit Sharma has assets worth Rs 43 crore and has liability worth Rs 6 crore.

The report also said that 98 candidates have not declared their PAN details in their election affidavit.

It said, 122 candidates are literate and there are five candidates who are illiterate and 13 candidates are diploma holders. It also highlighted that 594, which is 41 per cent candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 712 candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years.

According to the report, there are 156 candidates, who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years. Out of the 1,463 candidates, there are only 147 women candidates, which is 10 per cent who are contesting in the Bihar Assembly election 2020 second phase. (IANS)

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