An analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch has revealed that 61 of the 338 candidates in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections have criminal records against them.
There are 31 candidates with serious criminal cases, including one Congress candidate from the Doon constituency, who is accused in a murder case. Two others have attempt-to-murder cases against them.
Among those with declared criminal cases, 23 are from the BJP, 16 independents, 10 from the CPI(M), six from the Congress and three from the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Two constituencies, Dalhousie and Mandi, have three or more candidates with declared criminal cases.
Of the 338 candidates, 158 are ‘crorepatis’. They include 59 of the 68 Congress nominees, 47 of the 68 BJP contestants, six of the 42 BSP competitors, three of the 14 CPI (M) aspirants, one of the three CPI applicants, and 36 of the 112 independents. The average worth per candidate contesting in the elections is ₹ 4.07 crore.
PAN details
In all, 20 candidates have not declared their PAN details, 71 candidates not declared their sources of income and a total of 101 nominees have not declared their income-tax details.
The Himachal Pradesh Election Watch and the ADR analysed the affidavits of 60 MLAs re-contesting in the election. Their average assets in 2012 were worth ₹5.23 crore, while this year their average assets are worth ₹9.44 crore, which is an average increase of 80% in five years.
There are 19 women candidates in this election.
Of the total candidates, 120 have declared their educational qualification to be between Classes V and XII pass, while 214 are graduates or above.
