Bihar phase 4: a battle of the well-heeled

The five candidates put up by the Lok Janshakti Party in the fourth phase of Bihar Assembly elections have declared average assets of ₹3.95 crore, higher than the corresponding figure for its senior ally the BJP, whose 42 candidates have average assets of ₹3.53 crore. The fourth phase of elections are to be held on Sunday.

The eight Congress candidates in the fray are not far behind with average assets of ₹3.33 crore.

The top-three richest candidates in the fourth phase have combined assets of over ₹63 crore. Two of these – Prabhu Narayan and Angesh Kumar – are Independents and one – RP Gupta – is from the BJP.

Overall, the average assets of the 776 candidates in the fray for 55 seats stood at ₹1.25 crore, according to an analysis of their affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Incidentally, 470 (61 per cent) out of the 776 candidates have not declared their income-tax details.

In the list of ‘crorepatis’, the BJP has 28 candidates out of its 42 in the fray, the JD(U) has 16 of its 21, six out of eight Congress candidates, 15 out of 26 RJD candidates and five out of five LJP candidates.

When it comes to crime, 253 candidates have declared criminal cases, with 201 declaring ‘serious criminal charges’ such as murder, attempt to murder, creating communal disharmony, kidnapping and crimes against women, among others.

BJP tops the list, with 28 out of its 42 candidates declaring criminal cases, followed by 11 of 21 candidates from the Communist Party of India, 15 of 21 candidates fielded by the Janata Dal (United) and 17 out of 26 candidates from the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

With regard to educational qualifications, 380 out of 776 (49 per cent) total candidates studied between Class V- XII, while 286 declared being graduate or above and 102 candidates said they were ‘simple literates’.

In this phase, only 7 per cent of the total candidates are women.