NAVI MUMBAI: Nearly 10% of 500-odd candidates in the fray for the NMMC elections have criminal cases pending against them. This has been revealed in an analysis conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Of the 537 candidates analyzed, 53 have disclosed about their criminal records, with 40 of them having serious criminal charges, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and communal disharmony. The party-wise break up of candidates with criminal record looks like this — 17% of the 101 NCP nominees, 8% of the 85 aspirants from Congress, 18% of the 61 Shiv Sena candidates and 12% of the 42 BJP candidates. As far as serious charges are concerned, NCP's share of 'criminal' candidates is 12%, Congress has 6%, Shiv Sena 12% and BJP 10%.
Out of the 537 candidates in the fray, 201, or around 37% are crorepatis. Two candidates — Santosh Shetty and Anita Shetty of Congress — have declared assets more than Rs 100 crore, while independent candidate Dilip Tidke has declared assets of Rs 63 crore and Shiv Sena candidate Kishore Patkar possess assets of Rs 45 crore. Netra Shirke of NCP has assets worth Rs 40 crore.
About 58% of NCP candidates are crorepatis, while 62% candidates of Shiv Sena and 32% from Congress and 57% from BJP are crorepatis.
As many as three independent candidates and one BSP candidate have declared zero assets. Eight candidates have declared assets less than Rs 10,000. Surprisingly, 57% of the candidates have not filed their income tax details. As many as 68 candidates, who have assets over Rs 1 crore, have not declared income tax details.
While parties may have declared intentions of giving tickets to well qualified persons, the number of candidates who are graduate and above are a mere 23%, while 74% of the candidates are class 12 pass or below and seven candidates are illiterates. Two of the 537 candidates have doctorate degrees.
Forty candidates out of the 537 are in the age group of 21 to 25 years. Individual party figures show Shiv Sena has 62 candidates whose assets run into crores, while for NCP, Congress and BJP, it is 58%, 32% and 57%, respectively.
