Tripura Election 2023: 45 candidates are crorepatis, 41 have criminal cases, reveals report
According to the report, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has 17 crorepati candidates. Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma of the BJP, contesting from the Charilam constituency, is the wealthiest candidate, with 15.58 crore in moveable and immovable assets.
FollowOut of the total 259 candidates contesting the upcoming Tripura Assembly election, 45 are crorepatis, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) survey.
The report revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party has 17 crorepati candidates, followed by Tipra Motha with nine and the CPI(M) with seven.
The report added that the Congress has six crorepati candidates, the Trinamool Congress has four, and two independent candidates are also crorepati.
The report added that Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma of the BJP, contesting from the Charilam constituency, is the wealthiest candidate, with 15.58 crore in moveable and immovable assets.
ADR's state coordinator Biswendu Bhattacharjee said that Chief Minister Manik Saha, a doctor, is the second wealthiest candidate with Rs 13.90 crore in assets. For the February 16 Assembly election, Saha is contesting from the Town Bardowali constituency.
Bhattacharjee said that the Abhijit Sarkar of the Tipra Motha is the third richest candidate, with Rs 12.57 crore. He also said that the BJP, which fielded 55 candidates, has the highest average assets with Rs 1.86 crore.
Chayan Bhattacharya, the Congress candidate from the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency, has the most liabilities at Rs 3.07 crore, he added.
"41 (16 per cent) of the candidates in the upcoming elections have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2018 elections, 22 (7 per cent) of the 297 candidates had declared criminal offences," he explained.
Seven of the thirteen (54 per cent) Congress candidates had criminal cases, while nine of the 55 BJP candidates have criminal records, Bhattacharjee said.
"Nine (16 per cent) of the 43 Left Front candidates have criminal records. Eight applicants have declared charges, including an attempt to murder," he stressed.
There are 65 graduates, 55 class 12 pass applicants, and 39 matriculate candidates among the 259 candidates. According to the ADR report, thirty-six candidates are class 8 graduates, and nine are class 5 pass out.
(With inputs from PTI)
