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Chhattisgarh Elections: 145 Candidates Have Criminal Cases Against Them, 285 Are Crorepatis  

98 of the 1,256 candidates contesting the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections have serious criminal charges against them.

A polling station set up undera tree during the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, in Sukma. (Source: PTI)
A polling station set up undera tree during the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, in Sukma. (Source: PTI)

As many as 145 out of 1,256 candidates (12 percent) contesting the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves and 98 candidates have “serious” criminal cases, according to a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an advocacy.

“Serious” criminal cases include attempt to murder, kidnapping & assault.

This is an increase from 11 percent (113 of 983) in 2013, the analysis show.

Crorepati candidates (assets more than Rs 1 crore) increased to 285, or 23 percent, from 213 (of 983 candidates analysed) in 2013.

ADR analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,256 of 1,269 candidates. The affidavits of 13 candidates were not analysed as they were badly scanned or complete affidavits were not available.

The elections are being held in two phases--the first phase was held on Nov. 12, 2018 for 18 seats and the second phase polling will be on Nov. 20, 2018 for 72 seats.

Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) Has Most Candidates With Criminal Cases

Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J)--founded by former chief minister Ajit Jogi--has the most (32 percent, or 18 of 56) candidates with criminal cases against them, followed by Congress (28 percent or 25 of 90), Aam Aadmi Party (21 percent or 17 of 83), Bahujan Samaj Party (9 percent or 3 of 34), Bharatiya Janata Party (7 percent or 6 of 90) and independents (7 percent or 39 of 556).

As many as 18 of 90 (20 percent) constituencies are called “red alert constituencies” where three or more candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) also has the most (29 percent or 16 of 56) candidates with serious criminal cases, followed by Congress (17 percent or 15 of 90) and AAP (16 percent or 13 of 83).

Source: <a href="https://adrindia.org/content/consolidated-report-chattisgarh-assembly-elections-2018-criminal-and-financial-background">Association for Democratic Reforms</a>
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BJP Has Most Crorepati Candidates

Crorepati candidates (with assets more than Rs 1 crore) increased from 213 of 983 (22 percent) analysed in 2013 to 285 of 1,256 (23 percent) candidates in 2018.

BJP has the most (82 percent or 74 of 90) crorepati candidates among the major parties, followed by Congress (73 percent or 66 of 90), Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) (70 percent or 39 of 56), BSP (41 percent or 14 of 34), AAP (16 percent or 13 of 83) and independents (9 percent or 52 of 556).

The average asset per candidate is Rs 1.68 crore; 19 candidates have declared zero assets.

About 60 percent, or 753 candidates, have not declared income tax details (some are exempted from filing returns) and 67 have not declared their source of income; 276 candidates have not declared their permanent account number details.

The most (25 percent or 309) candidates have declared their education as 12th pass, followed by post graduate (214), 10th pass (175), 8th pass (151) and graduate (146); six candidates have doctorates and nine are illiterate.

In 2018, 125 (or 10 percent) candidates analysed are women, up from 81 (8 percent) of 983 in 2013.

(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

This article was published in a special arrangement with IndiaSpend

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