By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Kolkata: The West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW) has analyzed affidavits of candidates contesting in the Phase 1 of West Bengal 2011 Assembly Election. A total of 49 candidates i.e. 19.37% (out of 253 analyzed) have self declared pending criminal charges — 27 candidates out of the 49 have serious IPC charges like murder, attempt to murder, extortion and theft. The Phase 1 poll will take place on 18th April.
A campaign poster of Trinamool Congress candidate in Kolkata
All major parties have given tickets to candidates with pending criminal cases. Indian National Congress have 10 candidates out of 27 analyzed (37%), CPI(M) has 8 out of 32 (25%), BJP has 8 out of 48 (17%), SUCI has 5 out of 9 (56%) and Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee has 4 out of 26 (15%) candidates with pending criminal cases.
Top 10 candidates with serious pending criminal cases in Phase 1
|
S.No. |
Name |
District |
Constituency |
Party |
Serious IPC Counts |
Total No of Cases |
|
1 |
Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury |
Malda |
English Bazar |
INC |
2 |
6 |
|
2 |
Ali Imran Ramz |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Chakulia |
AIFB |
4 |
3 |
|
3 |
Prafulla Chandra Sarkar |
Malda |
Gazole (Sc) |
BJP |
3 |
2 |
|
4 |
Udayan Guha |
Coochbehar |
Dinhata |
AIFB |
4 |
3 |
|
5 |
Abdur Rahim Boxi |
Malda |
Malatipur |
RSP |
2 |
2 |
|
6 |
Chhotan Kisku |
Darjeeling |
Phansidewa (St) |
CPI(M) |
2 |
1 |
|
7 |
Anjali Malo |
Jalpaiguri |
Mal (St) |
BSP |
3 |
1 |
|
8 |
Abdullah Shaikh |
Dakhsin Dinajpur |
Kumarganj |
PDCI |
3 |
1 |
|
9 |
Narayan Barman |
Coochbehar |
Dinhata |
JD(U) |
4 |
1 |
|
10 |
Rabindra Nath Ghosh |
Coochbehar |
Natabari |
AITC |
4 |
1 |
Crorepati candidates
A total of 9 candidates (i.e. 4% of the total 253 analyzed) are crorepatis. A total of 143 candidates (57%) have declared that they have never filed income tax returns. Out of the above 253 candidates analyzed, 92 (36%) have not given PAN details.
About 11.54% of candidates analyzed of AITMC and 11.11% of candidates of each INC, RSP, AIFB, SP are crorepatis. There is no crorepati among Independents or other parties. The richest candidate of all is Mr Sukh Bilas Barma from Congress. He is contesting in Jalpaiguri (SC) seat in Jalpaiguri District. Among the 9 Crorepatis there is State Minister Mr Kiranmoy Nanda of SP. Only two are Muslims. They are Ex MLA Mr Abdul Karim Chowdhury who is contesting as AITMC candidate in Islampur constituency in Uttar Dinajpur District. Another one Mr Abdur Rahim Boxi of RSP is contesting in Malatipur Constituency of Malda district.
Among the top 20 asset holders contesting the election, there are four Muslims including Mrs. Sayeda Farhat Afroz of CPIM who is contesting in Islampur constituency of Uttardinajpur and Mr. Sekh Jalaludin of AITMC who is contesting in Chopra constituency of Uttardinajpur.
Top 20 candidates with high assets in Phase 1
|
S.No. |
Name |
District |
Constituency |
Party |
Age |
Total Assets (Rs) |
|
1 |
Sukh Bilas Barma |
Jalpaiguri |
Jalpaiguri (Sc) |
INC |
65 |
2,21,81,000 2 Crore+ |
|
2 |
Sankar Malakar |
Darjeeling |
Matigara-Naxalbari (Sc) |
INC |
57 |
1,86,77,327 1 Crore+ |
|
3 |
Kiranmoy Nanda |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Raiganj |
SP |
67 |
1,70,28,949 1 Crore+ |
|
4 |
Udayan Guha |
Coochbehar |
Dinhata |
AIFB |
56 |
1,42,42,375 1 Crore+ |
|
5 |
Subhas Goswami |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Karandighi |
INC |
56 |
1,26,13,551 1 Crore+ |
|
6 |
Abdul Karim Chowdhary |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Islampur |
AITC |
65 |
1,21,10,000 1 Crore+ |
|
7 |
Rabindra Nath Ghosh |
Coochbehar |
Natabari |
AITC |
56 |
1,18,07,005 1 Crore+ |
|
8 |
Rudra Nath Bhattacharya |
Darjeeling |
Siliguri |
AITC |
59 |
1,17,11,416 1 Crore+ |
|
9 |
Abdur Rahim Boxi |
Malda |
Malatipur |
RSP |
48 |
1,01,17,752 1 Crore+ |
|
10 |
Dipankar Roy |
Dakhsin Dinajpur |
Gangarampur (Sc) |
BJP |
40 |
92,38,407 92 Lacs+ |
|
11 |
Goutam Deb |
Jalpaiguri |
Dabgram-Phulbari |
AITC |
54 |
85,44,343 85 Lacs+ |
|
12 |
Sayeda Farhat Afroz |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Islampur |
CPI(M) |
46 |
82,37,316 82 Lacs+ |
|
13 |
Sailen Sarkar |
Malda |
Ratua |
CPI(M) |
70 |
82,10,495 82 Lacs+ |
|
14 |
Paresh Ch. Adhikary |
Coochbehar |
Mekliganj (Sc) |
AIFB |
58 |
78,46,736 78 Lacs+ |
|
15 |
Shankar Chakraborty |
Dakhsin Dinajpur |
Balurghat |
AITC |
66 |
78,08,975 78 Lacs+ |
|
16 |
Sekh Jalaludin |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Chopra |
AITC |
71 |
69,57,403 69 Lacs+ |
|
17 |
K. B. Wattar |
Darjeeling |
Darjeeling |
CPI(M) |
56 |
67,47,034 67 Lacs+ |
|
18 |
Srikumar Mukherjee |
Uttar Dinajpur |
Itahar |
CPI |
58 |
66,47,974 66 Lacs+ |
|
19 |
Brojo Gobinda Barman |
Coochbehar |
Sitai (Sc) |
BJP |
54 |
64,22,914 64 Lacs+ |
|
20 |
Gautam Chakraborty |
Malda |
Malatipur |
AITC |
65 |
62,07,941 62 Lacs+ |
‘Poor’ candidates
However, there are several candidates who have declared very low assets. Mukter Ahmed of SUCI, who is contesting in Karandighi of Uttar Dinajpur district, has assets worth only Rs 500 though he has PAN card. One candidate has no assets at all as per his affidavit to the Election Commission. This candidate is Mr. Ashim Sarkar of BJP who is contesting from Matigara-Naxalbari (SC) of Darjeeling.
A total of 143 candidates (57%) out of 253 candidates analyzed have declared that they have never filed income tax returns. Among them, Abdur Rahim Boxi of RSP has the highest assets of approximately 1 crore followed by K B Wattar of CPI(M) with assets worth over 67 lakhs and Bishwanath Gop of RDP with assets worth over 60 lakhs .
Out of the above 143 candidates who have never filed IT returns, 92 (64%) have not even given PAN details.
Educational Background
A total of 29 (11%) candidates (out of 253 analyzed) are post-graduates and 4 (2%) candidates (out of 253 analyzed) have doctorate. 70 candidates (out of 253 analyzed) have graduate, 44 12th Pass, 38 10th Pass, 42 8th Pass, 5 Literate and only one Illiterate. Among 5 Literate candidates two are Muslims. Mr Haji Ketabuddin of CPIM who is contesting at Sujapur, Malda is literate but he got non-formal education. Another Tahida Khatun of BSP contesting at Malatipur of Malda is literate but has not got any education. One of the four candidates having Doctoral Degree one is Muslim — Mr Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury who is contesting at Sujapur on the Congress ticket.
Out of 253 candidates only 16 have declared their age to be less than 30 years old (25-30), 50 are age group 31-40, 62 are 41-50, 80 are 51-60, 38 are 61-70 and one candidates not declared his age.