There's a saying 'Money is power,' and in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, casting votes on May 7th for 94 seats across 12 states and Union territories, approximately 29% of the 1,352 contenders are millionaires.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, candidates in this phase average 5.66 crore rupees in assets. The richest among them are the BJP candidates, averaging 44.08 crore rupees. The Samajwadi Party's aspirants hold an average of 42.93 crore rupees, while Congress Party candidates average 20.6 crore rupees.
Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo, the BJP candidate from South Goa, tops the list with assets worth over 1,361 crore rupees.
Source: aajtak
The number of wealthy candidates is on the rise. This year, the percentage of contestants with assets worth over 5 crore rupees increased from 10% in 2019 to 12%. Conversely, the percentage of those worth under 10 lakh rupees shrank from 37% in 2019 to 31.5% in 2024.
Source: aajtak
The BJP fielded 82 candidates in this round, 16 of whom are worth over 50 crore rupees. Fifty-two percent have assets ranging between 1 to 10 crore rupees, with a mere 6% valued at less than a crore.
Out of 67 Congress candidates, nine boast assets exceeding 50 crore rupees, and 12% fall below the 1 crore mark. Within the Samajwadi Party, 2 out of 10 candidates have declared over 50 crore rupees in assets.
Source: aajtak
The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded 79 candidates, with 63% holding assets under 1 crore rupees. The candidate from Gujarat's Bardoli, Rekhaben Harsinghbhai Chaudhary, declared the least wealth at just 2,000 rupees.
Criminal Backgrounds Exposed
Of the 1,352 candidates competing, 507 (37.5%) have a criminal record. The ADR reports that 244 of these face serious accusations. In 2019, of the 1,594 candidates, 682 (42.8%) had criminal charges registered against them.
Source: aajtak
The Congress Party has fielded the most candidates with a criminal past at 26, followed by BJP's 22. Both parties have 14 candidates each facing serious charges. On the other hand, only 9% of the BSP candidates have a criminal record, with 8% facing grievous charges.
The Gender Gap Persists
Out of the current candidates, 1,229 are male and 123 are female, translating to a mere 9.1% representation for women. Both Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have not fielded a single female candidate.
Source: aajtak
The Samajwadi Party has nominated just one woman across the ten seats it's contesting, while the BJP has given tickets to 13 women.
