Forty-two per cent candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections in second phase are ‘crorepatis’ while 23% have declared criminal cases pending against them.
The eight Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the second phase on April 26 include Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, and Mathura.
According to data from the nomination papers of the candidates analysed by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), all the eight or 100% candidates of the Bahujan Samaj Party are ‘crorepatis’ and their average wealth is Rs 10.05 crore. While seven out of eight BJP candidates are crorepatis, all the four Samajwadi Party candidates are millionaires.
The average wealth of seven BJP candidates is Rs 91.23 crore while that of four Samajwadi Party candidates is Rs 17.34 crore. The average wealth of the four Congress candidates is Rs 3.56 crore. Hema Malini, the BJP candidate from Mathura, has declared her assets valued at Rs 278 crore, while Satish Kumar Gautam, the BJP candidate from Aligarh, has declared assets to the tune of Rs 16 crore.
Of the total 91 candidates in the fray for eight Lok Sabha seats, 21 candidates or 23% have declared criminal cases pending against them while two candidates are facing serious criminal charges.
As per the party-wise analysis, three out of eight BSP candidates, two of the BJP, all four candidates of the Samajwadi Party, and two out of four candidates of the Congress are facing criminal charges.
The educational qualification of 33% of candidates is undergraduate as they have studied from 5th to 12 standards while 52% candidates are graduates or have other or higher degrees.
The average age of 34 per cent or 31 candidates is between 25 and 40 years while 42 candidates or 46% are aged between 41 and 60 years. Twenty per cent or 18 candidates are aged between 61 and 80 years. In the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, only nine or 10% candidates are women.
State convenor of ADR Sanjay Singh said that despite the rise in literacy level and aspirational society, a large number of candidates with low educational qualification are still in fray. He said despite repeated directives of the Supreme Court for curbing the entry of persons with criminal background in electoral politics, there is no let-up in nomination of the tainted candidates by political parties.
