West Bengal polls phase II: Baichung Bhutia is richest candidate

Kolkata, Apr 13: Ace footballer Baichung Bhutia contesting on a All India Trinamool Congress ticket from the Siliguri constituency is the richest candidate in phase two of the West Bengal Elections.

A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the West Bengal Election Watch states that in phase two of the polls there are 56 candidates who are worth over Rs 1 crore.

Bhutia with assets worth Rs 17,41,23,054 is the richest candidate in the fray. He is followed by Ashok Kumar Chattopadhyay with Rs 13,54,36,705 and James Kujur with Rs 8,12,45,571. Both these candidates are from the TMC.

Candidates with pending criminal cases:

• Candidates with criminal cases: Out of all the 383 candidates, 68 (18%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

• Candidates with serious criminal cases: 59 (15%) candidates have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, theft, crimes against women etc.

• Candidate with cases related to Rape: 1 candidate namely Efrajul Hoque of BSP from Harischandrapur constituency has declared 1 charge related to rape (Indian Penal Code Section-376).

• Candidates with cases related to Murder: 6 candidates have declared charges related to Murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302).

• Candidates with cases related to attempt to murder: 9 candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section-307).
• Candidates with cases related to crimes against women: 8 candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women.

• Party wise candidates with criminal cases: 13 (25%) out of 53 candidates from BJP, 13 (24%) out of 55 candidates from AITC, 11 (65%) out of 17 candidates from CPI(M),2 (5%) out of 43 candidates of BSP, 6 (26%) out of 23 candidates fielded by INC, and 11 (18%) out of 62 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

• Party wise Candidates with serious criminal cases: 12 (23%) out of 53 candidates from BJP, 11 (20%) out of 55 candidates from AITC, 11 (65%) out of 17 candidates from CPI(M), 1 (2%) out of 43 candidates of BSP, 5 (22%) out of 23 candidates fielded by INC, and 10 (16%) out of 62 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

• Red Alert constituencies*: 7 constituencies namely Kalchini (ST), Malda (SC), Rampurhat, Alipurduars, Hemtabad (SC), Murarai and Chopra in Phase 2 of West Bengal assembly elections have 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. *Red Alert Constituencies are those which have 3 or more candidates with criminal cases contesting elections.

Financial Background

There are 56 candidates with assets worth over Rs 1 crore. The number of candidates with assets between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore is 51. There are 157 candidates who have assets worth Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. 119 candidates have assets less than Rs 5 lakh. There are three candidates who have zero assets.

Party wise crorepati candidates: 56 or (15%) candidates of the 383 contesting candidates in Phase 2 of the West Bengal Assembly Elections have declared assets worth over Rs 1 Crore. 23 (42%) out of 55 candidates from AITC, 10 (19%) out of 53 candidates from the BJP, 8 (35%) out of 23 candidates from the INC, 4 (9%) out of 43 candidates from the BSP, 1 (6%) out of 17 candidates from CPI(M) and 4 (7%) out of 62 Independent candidates are crorepatis.

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in Phase 2 of the West Bengal Assembly Elections is Rs 54.21 Lakhs.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 53 BJP candidates is Rs 63.14 Lakhs, 55 AITC candidates have average assets of Rs 1.57 crores, 32 SUCI (C) candidates have average assets worth Rs 8.38 Lakhs, 23 INC candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.01 crore, average assets of 17 CPI(M) candidates are Rs 36.79 Lakhs, 43 BSP candidates have average assets of Rs 28.49 Lakhs and 62 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 27.59 Lakhs.

Other details:

Age details of candidates: 236 (62%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 146 (38%) candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years. Only 1 candidate has disclosed to be older than 80 years of age.

Gender details of candidates: 33 (9%) women candidates are contesting in Phase 2 of the West Bengal assembly election this year.

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