Lok Sabha Elections Phase 2: One-Third Candidates Are Crorepatis, 21% Have Criminal Cases

The second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, due to be held on April 26, will witness a contest where 33% or one-third of candidates in the fray have declared assets of at least Rs 1 crore, according to analysis done by the non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms.

Out of the 1,192 candidates, 390 are 'crorepatis'. Among them, 140 candidates have wealth of Rs 5 crore and above, while 112 are worth between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore. The average asset per candidate contesting the April 26 elections is Rs 5.17 crore.

Among the major parties, all candidates fielded by the Janata Dal (United), Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) and Samajwadi Party are crorepatis.

On the other hand, 64 out of 69 candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party, 62 out of 68 candidates from Congress, 12 out of 18 candidates from Communist Part of India (Marxist) and two out of five candidates analysed from the Communist Party of India have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

To be sure, the data is sourced after analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 1,192 out of 1,198 candidates in the second phase of the parliamentary elections in 12 states by the ADR and The National Election Watch.

In the first phase, held on April 19, 28% contesting candidates possessed wealth of Rs 1 crore and above.

Share of Wealth Among Contesting Candidates. (Source: ADR)

Three Richest Candidates

The two richest candidates in the second phase belong to Congress and are contesting from Karnataka. Venkataramane Gowda, who is fighting the polls from Mandya, is the richest candidate with assets of Rs 622 crore. This includes Rs 410 crore in immoveable assets.

DK Suresh, younger brother of deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, is worth Rs 593 crore. He is re-contesting from the party stronghold of Bangalore Rural. Interestingly, he also has liabilities of Rs 150 crore, the highest among peers.

Mathura BJP candidate and movie star Hema Malini has assets of Rs 278 crore.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 68 Congress candidates is Rs 39.7 crore, while for 69 BJP candidates it is Rs 24.68 crore. The average worth of four candidates each of SP and Uddhav Sena is Rs 17.34 crore and Rs 12.81 crore, respectively.

Share Of Candidates With Criminal Cases

The data released further shows that 250 (21%) out of 1,192 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves—167 have serious criminal cases against themselves and 32 are convicts, the ADR report said.

Among the major parties, all candidates fielded by CPI and SP have declared criminal cases against them, while 14 out of 18 candidates from CPI(M), two out of three candidates from Shiv Sena, 35 out of 68 candidates from Congress, two out of four candidates from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 31 out of 69 candidates from BJP and two out of five candidates from JD(U) have criminal cases.

K Surendran, the BJP's Kerala unit chief and challenger to Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad, has 243 cases registered against him, the highest in the second phase. He is followed by another Kerala BJP candidate Dr KS Radhakrishnan (211 cases) contesting from Ernakulam.

Phase 2 (April 26) (89 Seats)

• Assam (5/14)

• Bihar (5/40)

• Chhattisgarh (3/11)

• Karnataka (14/28)

• Kerala (20/20)

• Madhya Pradesh (7/29)

• Maharashtra (8/48)

• Manipur (1/2)

• Rajasthan (13/25)

• Tripura (1/2)

• Uttar Pradesh (8/80)

• West Bengal (3/42)

• Jammu and Kashmir (1/5)