Raipur: Over 46 ‘crorepati’ candidates gave got the tickets to contest in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, with Aam Aadmi Party's Khadgraj Singh leading the tally with assets worth more than Rs 40 crore. According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Chhattisgarh Election Watch, the average assets per candidate who is in the fray in the first phase are Rs 1.34 crore. “Out of the 223 candidates fighting the November 7 first phase polls, 46 are crorepatis,” the report said.
What about other parties?
Among the major parties, the average assets per candidate for 20 BJP candidates analysed is Rs 5.33 crore whereas 20 Congress candidates are with average assets worth Rs 5.27 crore. 10 AAP candidates have average assets worth Rs 4.45 crore and 15 Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) candidates with Rs 30.54 lakh, it said.
20 Assembly constituencies out of the total 90 will go to Assembly polls in the first phase on November 7 while the remaining 70 seats will vote on November 17.
Candidates with highest assets
According to the report, the top three candidates with the highest assets are AAP's Khadgraj Singh, a scion of the erstwhile royal family, with assets worth more than Rs 40 crore contesting from Kawardha seat, followed by the BJP's Bhawna Bohra (Rs 33 crore plus) from Pandariya seat and Congress' Jateen Jaiswal (Rs 16 crore plus) from Jagdalpur.
Candidates with lowest assets
The three candidates with lowest assets are Hem Kumar Satnami (Rs 8,000) contesting as an independent from the Dongargarh (SC) seat, Bhartiya Shakti Chetna Party's Narhar Deo Gawde (Rs 10,000) from Antagarh (ST) and Republican Paksha's (Khorpia) Pratima Wasnik (Rs 10,000) from Rajnandgaon, according to the report.
The Azad Janata Party's Parwati Teta from the Kanker (ST) seat and JCC (J) nominee Nagesh Puram from Mohla-Manpur (ST) have declared zero assets, it added.
Congress' Mohammad Akbar (Kwardha seat) and former chief minister and BJP candidate Raman Singh (Rajnandgaon) and Vikrant Singh (Khairagarh) are the top three candidates who have declared high income in the Income Tax Returns (ITR), it said.
Akbar has shown a total income of more than Rs 1 crore (including himself, spouse and dependent) in the ITR, followed by Vikrant Singh (Rs 63 lakh plus) and Raman Singh (Rs 55 lakh), it said.
The report also revealed that out of 223 candidates, 115 (52 per cent) have declared their educational qualifications to be between Classes five and 12, while 97 (43 per cent) candidates have declared as being graduates or above, five are diploma holders and four have declared themselves as just literate.
One candidate has been declared illiterate, while one has not mentioned his educational qualification, it said.
The results of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be declared on December 3.
(With PTI inputs)
