Average assets of party candidates in first phase of Bihar Assembly polls , Bihar Political Party candidate assets ,Bihar party candidates wealth,bihar assembly election news,bihar polls
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- Category: Bihar Political News
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 October 2015 15:22
Average assets of party candidates in first phase of Bihar Assembly polls , Bihar Political Party candidate assets ,Bihar party candidates wealth,bihar assembly election news,bihar polls
Elections in the state have become an expensive affair. Most candidates fielded by political parties for the first phase of the Assembly polls are millionaires.
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| WEALTH-WISE | ||
| PARTY | NO. OF CANDIDATES | ASSETS |
| BJP | 27 | RS. 2.12 CR |
| JDU | 24 | RS. 4.63 CR |
| RJD | 17 | RS. 4.08 CR |
| BSP | 41 | RS. 1.63 CR |
| INC | 8 | RS. 8 CR |
| LJP | 13 | RS. 2.7 CR |
| INDEPENDENTS | 192 | RS. 1.23 CR |
All prominent leaders and parties have been charged with selling tickets to rich people with dubious track records in the run-up to selection of candidates.
During the elections for 24 seats for the panchayat and municipal bodies for the state Legislative Council held earlier this year, there were intense debates in political circles over all parties giving tickets to millionaires so that voters could be allegedly bribed.
Recently, BJP MP R.K. Singh levelled charges against his party leadership. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and chief minister Nitish Kumar also faced charges from aspirants who were denied tickets. An arrest order has already been issued against state Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Ramchandra Singh Yadav for allegedly taking Rs 10 lakh from a candidate to provide him a ticket and backtracking later.
A report released by Bihar Election Watch on Saturday, based on the affidavits filed by candidates, states that of 583 aspirants contesting in the first phase, 25 per cent (146) are millionaires. The average asset of a candidate contesting the polls is Rs 1.44 crore in a state where the per capita income is less than Rs 32,000 per year. About 67 per cent of the 27 BJP candidates contesting the first round of polls are millionaires. For RJD, the figure is 65 per cent. In JDU's case, the figure stands at 79 per cent, while the Congress has 62 per cent millionaires.
Party-wise, the average asset of the BJP candidates stands at Rs 2.15 crore, while for a JDU candidate, it is Rs 4.63 crore. The corresponding figure for the RJD is Rs 4.08 crore.
The average asset of 41 BSP candidates stands at Rs 1.63 crore.On the top of the list in an Independent standing from Warisnagar (Samastipur), Binod Kumar Singh, who has declared assets to the tune of Rs 74 crore.
He is followed by the JDU candidate from Khagaria, Poonam Yadav, with assets of more than Rs 41 crore.
The third is Congress candidate from Bhagalpur Ajeet Sharma with over Rs 40 crore. The income shown by the RJD candidate from Nawada is over Rs 2 crore per year. The income shown by Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's brother Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is contesting from Alauli Assembly seat in Khagaria, is over Rs 56 lakh per year. The asset shown by Lalu's son Tejaswi Yadav is Rs 1.43 crore.
NDA candidates have complained that they have had to go in election mode almost two months before polls were announced owing to hoardings put up across the state featuring Nitish and slogans of "Phir se ek baar". The amount permissible by the Election Commission for a candidate to spend during the elections is Rs 28 lakh.
"But the actual expenditure crosses a crore. Everything has become expensive," remarked an RJD candidate.
That is perhaps why political parties prefer millionaires who can sustain the campaign costs.
src: telegraphindia