Kolkata, April 8 (IANS) As many as nine of the 47 candidates in the fray in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal are crorepatis (millionaires), with football icon Bhaichung Bhutia of Trinamool Congress leading the pack.
According to West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW), 19 percent of the total candidates for the first phase have declared assets worth more than Rs.1 crore.
Bhutia, contesting the polls from Darjeeling constituency tops the list with assets in excess of Rs.18 crore while independent candidates from the same constituency, M. P. Lama and A. K. Agarwal have assets in excess of Rs. 3 crore and Rs. 2 crore respectively.
Polling for four seats -- Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar -- in the northern part of the state would be held April 17.
Two of the four candidates each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress, while one of the two Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidates and one out of the four Congress candidates are crorepatis.
The lone Revolutionary Socialist Party candidate is also a crorepati.
As many as 16 candidates have declared more than Rs.50 lakh worth of assets.
The average assets per candidate contesting in the first phase is Rs.94.40 lakh.
Regarding party-wise average assets, the Trinamool (four candidates) has maximum average asset of Rs.5.25 crore. The BJP with four candidates is placed second with Rs.1.02 crore while the Congress with the equal number of candidates has average asset of Rs.1.01 crore.
Average assets of four Socialist Unity Centre of India-C are Rs.6.54 lakh while the CPI-M with two candidates has Rs.63.27 lakh.
As many as 20 of the 47 candidates have not declared their income tax details including four of them who possess property in excess of Rs 50 lakh, while six of the candidates have failed to give their PAN details.
Five of the 47 candidates have serious criminal cases including murder and attempt to murder against them.
Two of the candidates having criminal antecedents belong to SUCI, one from the CPI-M, one from the Forward Bloc and the other is an independent candidate.
Three of the five candidates with criminal background are contesting from Cooch Behar constituency making it a "Red Alert Constituency".
No derailment of coal scam cases probe by Sinha, CBI tells SC
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) The CBI Monday opposed, in the Supreme Court, NGO Common Cause's plea seeking SIT probe into alleged influencing of investigations into coal scam cases by its former
Chameli Devi Jain Award for online journalist
New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist for the year 2014-15 has been given to an online journalist, Surpiya Sharma, The Media
Kejriwal to take oath as Delhi's Chief Minister
New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Tens of thousands packed the sprawling Ramlila Maidan where AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal will take oath Saturday as Delhi's chief minister for a second time in 14
Pakistan Floods: America came forward to help Pakistan, sent from food to bed
Pakistan is currently in the grip of heavy rains and severe floods. All the countries around the world are providing help to Pakistan in this difficult time. The name of America is also included in
Why did Kejriwal leave the CM chair? Understand the strategy behind his resignation from these points; increased BJP's tension
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has played a big gamble by announcing his resignation. By announcing his resignation, Kejriwal has tried to connect the public with him more strongly along with
Oxfam: Billionaires' wealth increased by ₹3608 crore every day since Covid started, but 'poor' paid more GST
India's richest one percent of people have more than 40 percent of the country's total wealth, while on the other hand, half of the country's population is living on just 3 percent of the country's
Congress Vs BJP: Amit Shah told the achievements of NDA, saying- this is the golden period of public service, Congress raised questions
On the completion of 11 years of the NDA government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday talked about the achievements. He said that the 11-year tenure of the Modi government was a golden period
BJP seeks action against Virbhadra over poll code violation
Shimla, April 15 (IANS) The opposition BJP in Himachal Pradesh Tuesday urged the Election Commission to expedite action against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for making false statements despite a
Pant vs Dhoni in IPL: The new captain of Delhi filled the hunk, said - I will use against the maneuver learned from Mahi Bhai.
Rishabh Pant is heading the Delhi Capitals in the 14th season of IPL. His first match is on April 10 from Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team Chennai Super Kings. Pant said that they are ready for the first
Black Money abroad: 350 Accounts assessed, 60 cases filed
New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) The central government has completed assessment of 350 foreign accounts while tax-evasion proceedings have been initiated against 60 such holders as part of its crackdown
