The first-phase polling in Jharkhand Assembly elections 2019 was concluded on November 30 and the state is marching towards the next phase of voting. For the 20 assembly constituencies going to vote on December 7, 260 candidates of different political parties are in the fray.
Ahead of the second phase, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi started campaigning in the state, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties are holding public rallies to reach the masses.
The Congress is fighting the elections in coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to take on Chief Minister Raghubar Das-led BJP, which is fighting the poll on its own to retain power.
Also read | CM Raghubar Das faces ex-Cabinet colleague Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur East
Before voting is held in the second phase, here’s an analysis of candidates based on financial assets, criminal cases, educational qualifications and gender representation, published by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Crorepati candidates
Out of the 260 candidates, 46 are crorepatis, which means 18 percent of candidates have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.
Going party-wise, 10 (50%) out of 20 candidates analysed from BJP, 7 (50%) out of 14 candidates from JMM, 5 (46%) out of 11 candidates from JD(U), 4 (20%) out of 20 candidates from JVM (P), 3 (25%) out of 12 candidates analysed from AJSU Party and 2 (33%) out of 6 candidates analysed from Congress are crorepati.
Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the second phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections is Rs 71.68 Lakhs.
Also read | The challenges facing chief minister Raghubar Das
Criminal background
Among the 260 candidates in ballot battle in Phase 2, 67 have declared criminal cases against themselves. This ran through party lines. This makes up around 26 percent of all the candidates.
Among these candidates, 8 (40%) out of 20 candidates analysed from BJP, 8 (40%) out of 20 candidates analysed from JVM(P), 7 (50%) out of 14 candidates analysed from JMM, 5 (42%) out of 12 candidates analysed from AJSU Party and 4 (67%) out of 6 candidates analysed from Congress have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Candidates with declared cases related to crime against women: Out of all the contesting candidates, 4 have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of these, 1 candidate has declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376).
Red Alert constituencies: There are 12 Red Alert constituencies in Phase 2 of state elections, which means these seats have 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases.
Education
A total of 133 out of 260 candidates have an educational qualification equivalent to graduate or above. This amounts to 51 percent of the candidates.
As many as 125 candidates – 48 percent – declared their educational qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass. Just 1 candidate has declared his education just literate, while 1 candidate declared his education as ‘Illiterate’.
Gender representation
Out of 260 candidates, 29 are women. This amounts to 11 percent candidature.
The five-phase elections to the 81-member House will end on December 20. Counting will take place on December 23.
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