Lok Sabha Polls 2024 Phase 3: All Candidates Of Regional Parties Are Crorepatis

All candidates fielded by key regional parties in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, due to be held on May 7, have declared assets of at least Rs 1 crore. Overall, the polling on Tuesday will witness a contest where out of the 1,352 candidates in the fray, 392 are crorepatis, according to analysis by the non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms.

Among them, 163 candidates have wealth of Rs 5 crore and above, while 102 are worth between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore. The average asset per candidate contesting the May 7 election is Rs 5.66 crore.

Both factions of the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal have fielded crorepati candidates.

On the other hand, 77 out of 82 candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party, 60 out of 68 candidates from Congress, nine out of 10 candidates from the Samajwadi Party, and four out of six candidates analysed from the Trinamool Congress have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

To be sure, the data is sourced after analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of all 1,352 candidates in the third phase of the Parliamentary elections in 12 states by the ADR and The National Election Watch.

In the first phase held on April 19, 28% contesting candidates possessed wealth of Rs 1 crore and above, while in the second round, 33% were crorepatis.

Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo, who is fighting the polls from South Goa on a BJP ticket, is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 1,361 crore. This includes Rs 1,250 crore in moveable assets. Her main source of income is her business activities and investments. She is also the BJP’s first-ever woman Lok Sabha candidate in Goa.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister and Madhya Pradesh BJP heavyweight, is worth Rs 424 crore. He is contesting from Guna, part of the Gwalior region considered a stronghold of the Scindia family.

Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji, the Congress candidate from Maharashtra's Kolhapur, is the third-richest candidate in phase 3 with a declared wealth of Rs 342 crore.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 68 Congress candidates is Rs 20.59 crore, while for 82 BJP candidates it is Rs 44.07 crore. The average worth of three candidates of the NCP—Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions is Rs 89.68 crore and Rs 62.64 crore, respectively.

The data released also shows that 244 (18%) out of 1,352 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves—172 have serious criminal cases and seven are convicts, the ADR report said.

Among the major parties, all candidates fielded by RJD have declared criminal cases against them, while four out of five candidates from Shiv Sena (UBT), two out of three from NCP (Sharad Pawar), five out of 10 from SP, 26 out of 68 from Congress, and 22 out of 82 candidates from BJP have criminal cases.

Moreover, 43 out of 95 constituencies are red alert constituencies—where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves—in phase 3 of polling.

• Assam (4/14)

• Bihar (5/40)

• Chhattisgarh (7/11)

• Goa (2/2)

• Gujarat (26/26)

• Karnataka (14/28)

• Madhya Pradesh (8/29)

• Maharashtra (11/48)

• Uttar Pradesh (10/80)

• West Bengal (4/42)

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu (2/2)

• Jammu and Kashmir (1/5)