New Delhi: In the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, about 23 percent of the candidates who have entered the fray have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 22 percent of the candidates are millionaires. This information was obtained from a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report stated that affidavits of 1,445 candidates were analyzed, out of which 338 (23 percent) declared criminal cases against themselves, and 295 (20 percent) declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
The report said that 16 candidates declared that murder cases have been registered against them, while 80 candidates are accused of attempted murder.
According to the ADR report, among the major parties, 102 out of 141 candidates (72 percent) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 49 out of 142 candidates (35 percent) of the Trinamool Congress, 51 out of 100 candidates (51 percent) of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), and 37 out of 142 candidates (26 percent) of the Congress declared criminal cases against themselves in their election affidavits.
Out of the 142 constituencies in the state, 63 (44 percent) are ‘red alert’ constituencies, where three or more candidates have criminal cases registered against them. Out of 1,445 candidates, 321 (22 percent) have assets worth more than one crore rupees.
According to ADR, among the major parties, 103 out of 142 candidates (73 percent) of the Trinamool Congress, 73 out of 141 candidates (52 percent) of the BJP, 36 out of 142 candidates (25 percent) of the Congress, and 33 out of 100 candidates (33 percent) of the CPI-M have declared assets worth more than one crore rupees.
The report said that the average assets of each candidate contesting in the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections 2026 is 1.21 crore rupees.
According to the report, among the major parties, the average assets of 142 Trinamool Congress candidates is 5.05 crore rupees, of 141 BJP candidates is 3.28 crore rupees, of 100 CPI-M candidates is 1.22 crore rupees, and of 142 Congress candidates is 1.04 crore rupees.
