There are as many as 74 persons with criminal cases, including 31 with serious criminal charges including murder, against them in the fray in the State in the Lok Sabha elections this time, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Kerala Election Watch (KEW).
Analysis of the declarations made by candidates while filing their nomination papers by the ADR and KEW, released for publication here on Wednesday, says that out of 256 candidates analysed, 74 candidates (29 per cent) have declared criminal cases against them. Of them, 31 candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including murder.
As many as 19 candidates have declared multiple cases involving serious IPC sections. K.K. Abdul Jabbar, the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) candidate in the Kannur constituency, has declared the highest count of serious IPC charges of nine followed by M.B. Rajesh of CPI(M) in Palakkad and Das K. Varkala, Independent candidate in Attingal, with five serious IPC charges each.
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Among the various parties in the fray, SDPI has the highest number of candidates with criminal charges. Fourteen out of the party’s 20 candidates face criminal charges. Seven out of 17 candidates of the BJP, six out of nine of the CPI(M), six out of 15 of the Congress, all the four candidates of CPI, and three out of the 20 candidates of BSP have criminal cases against them. Nine candidates have declared cases related to murder and attempt to murder.
According to the ADR-KEW analysis, there are 46 crorepatis in the fray. The Congress has the highest number of crorepatis (8). Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has four, BJP two, and CPI(M) two crorepatis. The average assets of all candidates is Rs.82.21 lakh. Among the major parties, the average assets of nine CPI(M) candidates is Rs.70.58 lakh, that of 20 SDPI candidates is Rs.50.92 lakh, of 17 BJP candidates is Rs.50.65 lakh, of 15 Congress candidates Rs.2.61 crore, of four CPI candidates Rs.1.53 crore, and of 15 AAP candidates Rs.3 crore.
Six candidates have declared more than Rs.5 crore worth of assets. Top three among them are Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram, whose total assets are worth more than Rs.23 crore, AAP candidate in Ernakulam Anita Prathap has assets worth Rs.20 crore and AAP candidate in Chalakkudy K.M. Noordeen has total assets worth Rs.15.86 crore.
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Four candidates have declared zero assets. They are S. Rajesh of SHS in Palakkad, Soman Pillai of Indian Gandhiyan Party in Thrissur, Chandrababu, an Independent in Alappuzha, and Syamalakumari, Independent candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. Fifty-seven candidates have declared assets worth less than Rs.3 lakh.
A total of 125 candidates have declared liabilities out of which 18 candidates have declared liabilities in excess of Rs.20 lakh. The candidates who have declared highest liabilities are LDF-backed Independent candidate in Idukki Joice George, with liabilities of Rs.94.17 lakh, Congress candidate in Wayanad M.I. Shanavas with liabilities of Rs.77.11 lakh and Independent candidate in Idukki P.C. Jolly with Rs.55 lakh as total liabilities.
As many as 88 candidates have declared their income tax details, which show that 22 candidates have declared a total income, which includes income of self, spouse and dependents, of more than Rs.10 lakh. Ms. Prathap of AAP has declared a total income of Rs.1.07 crore, Mr. Tharoor has declared a total income of Rs.75.40 lakh and Congress candidate in Chalakkudy P.C. Chacko has declared a total income of Rs.28.20 lakh.