In Assam and Tripura, 16 out of the 64 candidates in the fray in the first phase of elections on April 7, are 'crorepatis', with average assets of ₹5.75 crore, says an analysis of their affidavits by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Congress rebel candidate from Tezpur in Assam , Moni Kumar Subba, known as the ‘lottery king’, is the richest candidate with declared assets of ₹306 crore.

Party-wise, the six Congress candidates had the highest average assets at ₹4.10 crore, followed by five Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidates with assets of ₹2.30 crore in the two North-Eastern states.

The four Aam Aadmi Party candidates, the new entrant in the Lok Sabha elections, had average assets of ₹1.20 crore, the six Trinamool candidates declared average assets of ₹98.01 lakh, six BJP candidates ₹49.28 lakh and five CPI(ML)L candidates had average assets of ₹26.86 lakh.

Of the 64 candidates, six are facing criminal cases and three of them face very serious cases, including rape and murder. Subal Bhowmik, an Independent candidate from Tripura West Constituency, has declared a case related to attempt to murder, while Subba has declared a case related to rape.

According to ADR, criminal cases were declared by one out of every five candidates fielded by AGP, one out of every two CPI(M) candidates, and one candidate fielded by the Indigenous Peoples Front Of Tripura.

Published on March 27, 2014