West Bengal Election 2021 | 25% candidates in Phase 1 of WB polls have criminal records

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With the stage set for high-octane assembly polls, West Bengal is set to vote in the first phase scheduled to be held on March 27, in which a total of 30 constituencies will go for voting. As these constituencies are ready to cast votes, take a look at contesting candidates based on their criminal cases, financial assets, educational qualifications and gender representation, published by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

This analysis is based on the self-sworn affidavits of all 191 candidates.

Criminal cases

Among the 191 candidates, 48 have declared criminal cases against themselves. This means 25 percent of candidates have been charged with criminal cases. Of these, 12 are from Bharatiya Janata Party, 10 each from Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Trinamool Congress, three from Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), two from Congress and one from Bahujan Samaj Party.

Out of 48 candidates with criminal cases, 42 have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

As many as 12 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Of these, one candidate has declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376).

Red Alert Constituencies

Out of 30 constituencies going for polling in the first phase of Bengal assembly elections, seven are Red alert constituencies. This means these constituencies have three or more contesting candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves.

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Crorepati candidates

There are 19 candidates who are crorepati, which means they have declared assets valued more than Rs one crore. Of these, nine are from TMC, four from BJP, two each from CPI(M) and Congress, and one each from SUCI(C) and BSP.

Education

A total of 92 candidates have an educational qualification equivalent to graduate or above. This amounts to 48 percent of the legislators.

As many as 96 candidates – 50 percent – have declared their qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass. There are three candidates who are diploma holders.

Age

Among the 191 candidates, 53 have declared their age to be between 25 and 40 years while 109 have declared to be between 41 and 60 years. There are 29 candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 and 80 years.

Gender representation

Of the 191 candidates contesting in 30 constituencies of West Bengal, currently ruled by a woman chief minister, only 11 percent are female. This means, 170 candidates are men while only 21 are women.