256 multi-millioires in fray for second phase of UP polls

Lucknow, Feb 9: As many as 256 multi-millioires and 107 persons with declared crimil cases against them, including charges of murder, are among the 721 candidates in the fray for the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. According to election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), of the 107 candidates with crimil cases, 84 face serious charges like murder, attempt to murder and kidpping.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 25 nominees tops the list of candidates with crimil antecedents followed by the Samajwadi Party with 21 and the Bharatiya Jata Party (BJP) 16.

Fifteen constituencies in the second phase have been declared as “Red Alert Constituencies” — the ones which have three or more candidates in fray with declared crimil cases.

The BSP also heads the list of “crorepati” (multi-millioire) candidates, with 58 of its nominees possessing wealth in excess of Rs 1 crore. The BJP has 50 such nominees, while the ruling Samajwadi Party has fielded 45 multi-millioires.

BSP’s wab Kazim Ali Khan, contesting from Suar constituency, is the richest of them all with declared assets in excess of Rs 97 crore.

The average assets of BSP candidates in fray in this phase is worth Rs 7.20 crore, followed by the BJP candidates with Rs 4.07 crore, the Samajwadi Party with Rs 3.43 crore and the Congress with Rs 3.37 crore.

BJP’s Rajeev Singh, contesting from Dataganj, has the highest income among the candidates. His annual income is in excess of Rs 1.16 crore and has declared assets to the tune of Rs 14.45 crore. On the flip side, three candidates, all Independents, have declared ‘zero assets’ in their self-sworn affidavits. (IANS)