By IANS,
Kolkata : A total of 48 candidates out of 291 contesting from the the 50 assembly constituencies in the second phase of West Bengal polls April 23 have criminal cases pending against them, according to an election watchdog Monday.
The self-declared affidavits of the candidates revealed that of the 48 candidates with criminal backgrounds, over half are from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (10 each), and five are from Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), said the West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW).
WBEW state coordinator Biplab Halim also told media persons here that Trinamool nominees Idris Ali and Sushil Bisbas are accused in five cases of attempts to murder and two murder cases respectively. Humayan Kabir of the Congress is also accused in two murder cases.
A total 172 candidates have declared that they have never filed income tax returns.
“As many as 105 of the 291 candidates have not given their PAN details. Moreover, CPI-M nominee Ainal Haque has never paid tax despite having assets worth over Rs.64 lakh.”
“Among the contesting candidates, nine are crorepatis (millionaires), of which four each are from the Congress and Trinamool and one from Bharatiya Janata Party. The affidavits reveal that Trinamool nominee Swapan Kanti Ghosh is the richest with assets worth over Rs.12 crore. He is followed by his party nominee Noor-e Alam Chowdhury with assets worth over Rs.9 crore and Congress nominee Abhijit Mukherjee with assets amounting over Rs.5 crore,” said Halim.
“A total of seven candidates have declared in their affidavits to have liabilities above several lakh rupees. Swapan Ghosh contesting from Birbhum’s Suri constituency has liabilities of Rs.1,18,60,714 followed by Trinamool nominee Samir Kumar Poddar from Ranaghat north-east with Rs.73,81,678, and Abhijit Mukherjee with Rs.57,90,000,” said WBEW’s state coordinator.
WBEW is a civil society initiative working on making voters aware of their rights and helping them to make an informed choice in casting their votes.
It also pointed out that among the candidates contesting in the second phase, one is illiterate, two are barely literates, five candidates have passed class 5 while 39 have passed class 8 standard. Among the rest, 43 have passed secondary examination and 57 have passed higher secondary exam.
“Among the total candidates, three – Asish Banerjee, Ramendra Nath Biswas and Manik Bhattacharjee of Trinamool Congress – hold doctorates,” said Halim.