JOIN USThe Lok Sabha has 545 members, but polls are held only in 543 seats, as two members are nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. Analysing the affidavits of candidates contesting in the final phase, the National Election Watch (NEW), a conglomerate of voluntary organisations, said about 11 per cent of them have criminal records.
“Most of the major political parties have fielded candidates with criminal records. The BJP is on the top with 11 such candidates and the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party closely following with nine each,” a National Election Watch study said. While the AIADMK has six candidates with criminal records, the Congress has five and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) two.
Moreover, there are 46 candidates charged with heinous crimes.
Out of them, the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party have five each, the BJP is next with four and the Congress has two candidates charged with such crimes. Among the states, Uttar Pradesh is at the top with 40 candidates with criminal records with Tamil Nadu has 33.
There are as many as 193 “crorepatis” in phase five elections — the Congress has 35, BSP 28, BJP 21, DMK 12, SP eight and the AIADMK seven. About 58 per cent of the candidates have not furnished their PAN card details, as necessary, with their affidavits.
Crorepatis have increased from 9 per cent in 2004 to 20.1 per cent in 2009.
Among the major parties, the average asset per candidate for the Congress is Rs 22 crore, DMK Rs 5 crore, BJP Rs 3 crore, BSP Rs 2 crore and the SP Rs 1 crore.
There are 19 candidates who have shown “zero” assets.