Lok Sabha Poll 2024: Report discloses criminal cases, assets of Phase-I candidates

 Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), in association with Assam Election Watch, released a report today after analysing the self-sworn affidavits of the 35 candidates contesting Phase-I of the ensuing Lok Sabha election on April 19, and has come out with some startling revelations.

The report discloses the pending criminal cases and details of the assets of the candidates, as well as their educational qualifications and other details.

In the report, it is mentioned that five candidates, comprising 14% of the total of 35 candidates, have criminal cases against them. Out of these, three candidates are reported to have ‘serious criminal cases’ against them. Also, 15 of the 35 candidates, which are 43% of the total candidates, are ‘crorepattis,’ with assets worth one crore or more.

The five candidates with criminal cases pending against them at different police stations in the state are: i) Rishiraj Kaundinya, the AAP candidate contesting from Sonitpur constituency, has a total of seven cases against him. There are charges against him in 18 serious sections of the IPC and 9 other IPC sections. There are cases pending against him in the Dispur and Chandmari police stations in Guwahati and the Tezpur police station in Sonitpur district.

ii) Gaurav Gogoi, the Congress candidate from Jorhat constituency, has one case pending against him at Basistha police station in Guwahati, with an FIR lodged on January 23, 2024. There is one serious section of the IPC and seven other IPC sections lodged against him.

iii) Alam Ali, the Bahujan Maha Party candidate from Sonitpur parliamentary constituency, has one case pending against him at the Judicial Magistrate First Class Court in Tezpur, with two serious IPC Sections lodged in the case.

iv) Premlal Ganju, the Congress candidate from Sonitpur parliamentary constituency, has two cases pending against him at the CJM court in BiswanathChariali.

v) Sailen Chandra Malakar, the Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BGP) candidate from Kaziranga parliamentary constituency, has one case pending against him at Hojai police station, with two IPC Sections in the FIR lodged against him. The ‘crorepatti’ candidates mentioned in the report are: Diluwara Begum Choudhury, the independent candidate from Kaziranga parliamentary constituency, has total assets (both movable and immovable assets) of more than Rs 17 crore; Manoj Dhanowar, the AAP candidate from Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 9 crore; Ranjit Dutta, the BJP candidate from Sonitpur parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 8 crore; Uday Shankar Hazarika, the Congress candidate from Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 6 crore; Gaurav Gogoi, the Congress candidate from Jorhat parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 4 crore; Sarbananda Sonowal, the BJP candidate from Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 4 crore; Topon Kumat Gogoi, the BJP candidate from Jorhat parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 3 crore; Rishiraj Kaundinya, the AAP candidate from Sonitpur parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 2 crore; Pradan Baruah, the BJP candidate from Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 2 crore; Pradip Bhandari, the independent candidate from Sonitpur parliamentary constituency, has total assets of more than Rs 2 crore; Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, the BJP candidate, and Abdul Hoque, the independent candidate from Kaziranga parliamentary constituency, also have total assets of more than Rs 2 crore.

Also, there are three candidates who have more than Rs 1 crore of total assets. They are: Ghana Kanta Chutia, the AITC candidate from Lakhimpur; Sailen Chandra Malakar, the BGP candidate from Kaziranga; and Premlal Ganju, the Congress candidate from Sonitpur.

The educational qualifications of the 35 candidates also came up for reckoning, with one being Class 5 passed, two being Class 8 passed, four being Class 10 passed, and six being Class 12 passed. There are also eight graduates, five graduate professionals, seven post-graduates, and two with diplomas on the list.

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