260 crorepati candidates in UP assembly elections 2nd phase: report

Uttar Pradesh elections: Out of 584 candidates contesting in the second phase, 260 are crorepatis. (Representational)

Forty-five percent of candidates contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022 in the second phase on Monday are crorepatis, according to a report.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in a report said they have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 584 candidates out of 586, who are contesting the second phase elections on February 14 for 55 assembly seats of the state. Out of the 584 candidates, 260 are crorepatis, the report said.

Among the major parties, 52 out of 53 candidates from BJP, 48 out of 52 from Samajwadi Party, 46 out of 55 Bahujan Samaj Party candidates, 2 out of 3 from Rashtriya Lok Dal, 31 of 54 from Congress and 16 out of 49 candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party have declared assets valued at more than Rs 1 crore.

The average of assets per candidate contesting in the UP elections (Phase II) is Rs 4.11 crores.

The average Samajwadi Party candidate has assets valued at Rs 11.26 crore – making them the richest overall in this phase. BJP comes second with the average candidate’s wealth being Rs 9.95 crore. The Congress candidates have average assets of Rs 8.20 crore, 3 RLD candidates have average assets of Rs 6.20 crore, BSP candidates have average assets of Rs 5.74 crore and AAP candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.60 crore.

The richest candidate is Nawab Kazim Ali Khan, the Congress candidate from Rampur assembly seat. He has declared assets worth Rs 296 crore, the report said.

He is followed by Supriya Aron of Samajwadi Party from Bareilly Cantonment with Rs 157 crore in assets while BJP's Devendra Nagpal from Naugawan seat has declared Rs 140 crore in assets, the report added. Supriya Aron also has the highest income as declared in her Income Tax Returns this financial year.

The candidate with the lowest assets is Sanjay Kumar, who will be contesting as an Independent from Shahjahanpur with declared assets worth just Rs 6,700, with all of it movable and nil immovable.

AAP’s Vishal Kumar (Nehtaur) and Usmal Malik (Saharanpur Nagar) come next in line with assets worth Rs 13,500 and Rs 15,000, respectively, according to the report.

256 (44%) of candidates have declared liabilities while 29 (5%) have not submitted their PAN details.

Nine districts of western Uttar Pradesh - Amroha, Bareilly, Bijnor, Budaun, Moradabad, Rampur, Saharanpur, Sambhal and Shahjahanpur – will vote on February 14 in the second phase of the UP assembly elections.