As many as 345 candidates, or 23 per cent, of the 1,475 analysed in the first phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal have various criminal cases pending against them, according to data culled from candidate affidavits by an all-India based non-government organisation.
The cases range from murder and rape to money laundering and hurting religious sentiments. The report, presented today by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and WB Election Watch, reveals that the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has the second highest number of cases (29), after Subrata Dutta, TMC candidate from Onda in Bankura (32).
A total of 19 candidates have murder charges pending and 105 have attempt to murder charges, while 98 have women-related crimes (of whom six are rape cases). Party-wise, 106 BJP candidates (70 per cent of 152), 63 Trinamul (or 43 per cent of 148), 43 CPI-M (44 per cent of 98) and 39 Congress (or 26 per cent of 151) have criminal cases. “The number of red alert constituencies, where three or more candidates have charges against them, has gone up to 43 per cent, from 21 per cent in 2021 elections, and this, we feel, is a matter of concern,” said Ujjaini Halim, ADR’s state coordinator.
The report also found that 309 of the 1,475 candidates have moveable and immoveable assets worth Rs 1 crore or more, with the richest being Jakir Hossain, the bidi king, who is TMC candidate from Jangipur in Murshidabad. His total worth is Rs 133 crores. That way, the TMC appears to be the richest party, as 106 of 148 candidates in the first phase are crorepatis. This is followed by the BJP with 71 and Congress with 50 candidates.
On the other hand, the candidate with least assets is Rubiya Begum of the newly-formed Aam Janata United Party, who has declared only Rs 500 in her possession as she fights the Durgapur Purba seat. Several candidates, who are contesting again after winning in 2021, have multiplied their assets manifold in the past five years, the most notable being a TMC candidate from Bankura.
Education-wise, graduates were in the highest category (361), followed by Class XII pass (247) and Class VIII pass (246 candidates). The report also found that the majority of the candidates were in the 41-50 age group (453 of them), with 347 being in the 31-40 age group. There are 167 women candidates, which is far less than the 1,308 men contesting.
WB Election Watch clarified that, though there were 1,478 candidates in the fray on 23 April, the affidavits of three could not be analysed as they were either badly scanned or not uploaded on the Election Commission of India website.