Delhi Assembly elections are round the corner and all the political parties have plunged themselves into active campaigning. Voting for Delhi polls will take place on the 7 February and results will be announced on 10 February.
Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, released an analysis of 673 self-sworn candidates who are contesting the 2015 Delhi Assembly Election. There are 70 political parties fielding candidates in these elections.
The study done by the election watchdog quoted figures of last three elections and said that compared to 2013 elections, this year there were lesser parties in the electoral fray. In 2013, 77 parties contested. In 2008 there were 68 political parties that were in the fray, the study said.
We, at Firstpost, bring you a graphic representation of the analysis. According to the ADR report, during the 2015 elections, out of 673 contestants 114 candidates have declared criminal cases lodged against them which roughly comes to around 17 percent. The figure has increased since the 2008 and 2013 elections when 14 percent and 16 percent candidates (respectively) had declared criminal cases against them.
Source: www.adrindia.org
According to the ADR study, out of 69 candidates in BJP 27 (39 percent) have declared criminal cases against them. In Aam Aadmi Party, out of 70 candidate 23 (33 percent), in Congress out of 70, 21 (30 percent) and out of 195 independent candidates 15 (9 percent) have declared criminal cases against them in their forms. Eight candidates have cases related to crimes against women. Out of these, 3 have charges related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty Section-354.
The study done by ADR suggests that in comparison to 2008 elections, percentage of 'crorepati candidates' in 2015 elections has risen by 10 percent. In 2008, 23 percent of 790 candidates had declared total total assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. In 2015, 34 percent of 673 candidates have total assets worth more than a crore.
Source: www.adrindia.org
If we have a party-wise comparison, 59 (84 percent) out of 70 candidates from Congress, 50 (72 percent) of 69 from BJP, 44 (63 percent) of 70 candidates from AAP and 27 (14 percent) out of 195 independent candidates are crorepatis. AAP might not be so "aam" (common) after all given that Arvind Kejriwal's party has fielded almost as many "crorepati" candidates in Delhi as have rivals BJP and Congress, the ADR report suggested. Interestingly though, the convener of AAP, Kejriwal in his asset declaration, declared less money and more FIRs than last year.
Source: www.adrindia.org
Average assets per candidate as well has spiked over the years. In 2008, average asset per candidate was Rs 1.77 crore as compared to 2015 where the figure has climbed up to Rs 3.32 crore per candidate. Sushil Kumar Mishra of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha is the only candidate in the fray who has declared zero total assets.
Source: www.adrindia.org
According to the detailed report by the ADR, of the 673 candidates 261 have not declared their income tax details. The report further added that 6 candidates with total assets worth more than Rs 1 crore have not furnished their PAN card details. Apart from this, the ADR report also looked closely at the candidates' educational background which painted a grim picture too.
Out of 673, 126 candidates fighting the Delhi elections are just 12th pass while 26 of them are illiterate. 39 percent candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.
Source: www.adrindia.org
The election watchdog further in the report added that in 2015, 10 percent of the candidates were female, which means that out of 673 candidates, there are 66 female candidates fighting the poll battle in Delhi. In 2013, there were 71 (9 percent) female candidates out of 810 candidates in the fray and in 2008 there were 81 (9 percent) female candidates out of 875 candidates contesting the elections.
