A total of 553 crorepatis are in the fray in the Tamil Nadu elections to be held this month, while 283 have declared criminal cases against themselves, a report said on Tuesday.
'The number of candidates in Karnataka with a criminal background has come down by five per cent when compared to the 2004 election,' says Professor Trilochan Sastry of Karnataka Election Watch.
Sixteen per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of Assam assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The Association for Democratic Reforms, in association with the National Election Watch, has compiled the list of the poorest Members of Parliament. The list is based on the assets declared by the candidates, before the Election Commission, when they had filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha polls.
The analysis of the 37 candidates done by the Association for Democratic Reforms states that Subu Kechu, an independent candidate from Arunachal West, has declared a case against him in which he allegedly caused a loss of Rs 50.
It keeps getting harder every day for the government to drive its narrative that ample jobs are being created. They sound increasingly silly as they try to defend the indefensible, says Mahesh Vyas.
According to the ADR analysis, during the period 2016-18 business houses donated a total of Rs 985.18 crore, constituting 93 per cent of the total contribution to political parties from known sources.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's vote share in the just-concluded Jharkhand assembly polls has slumped to 18.72 per cent despite the party winning 30 of the total 81 seats in the state. The JMM had won 19 seats in 2014 polls with a vote share of 20.43 per cent. This time the party bagged 30 seats but its vote share came down to 18.72 per cent.
The report prepared by ADR also stated that 81 per cent are crorepatis.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat's asset saw an increase of over Rs 1 crore from 2012 to 2017, ADR said.
An analysis of the assets data from Association of Democratic Reforms shows that the average assets of a winner of the 2014 LS election was more than the average assets of a candidate: more the money you have, more the chances of winning.
The survey conducted jointly by Association for Democratic Reforms and UP Election Watch to study impact of demonetisation on poll expenses said, "Demonetisation will have no impact in the campaigning or the poll expense."
The income of these parties from "unknown" sources was Rs 689.44 crore, which is 53 per cent of their total income.
Andhra Pradesh's Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as the wealthiest chief minister with declared assets worth over Rs 177 crore, followed by Arunanchal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (over Rs 129 crore) and Amarinder Singh of Punjab (over Rs 48 crore).
Thirty per cent of candidates contesting Madhya Pradesh assembly election on the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party tickets have criminal cases against them, according to an analysis of candidates' affidavits released by watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms.
All you need to know about the Himachal Pradesh elections.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Prahlad Singh Patel, as also former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among those whose phone numbers were listed as potential targets for hacking through an Israeli spyware sold only to the government agencies, an international media consortium reported on Monday.
The party's steady flow of money from industrialists has all but dried up, leaving a cash crunch so serious that it's been forced to crowd-fund for a candidate.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking stay on further sale of electoral bonds ahead of assembly elections.
Six national parties collected 86.91 pc (Rs 1,041.80 crore) of their total income from voluntary contributions for 2017-18.
According to the report, 32 (73 per cent) out of 44 candidates analysed from the Rashtriya Janata Dal have declared criminal cases against themselves and 22 (50 per cent) of them have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
A total of 130 candidates with serious criminal cases against them including related to murder will contest in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 12.
At a time when many Lok Sabha candidates are declaring assets worth crores, 14 candidates in the poll fray in Tamil Nadu, mostly independents, have declared zero assets. They are among 845 candidates of well-established political entities, among whom are 14 contestants with high liabilities of more than Rs five crore, as per an analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms-Tamil Nadu Election Watch.
The survey also found that employment opportunities, transport and women empowerment are key issues in the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.
'Unknown' location advertisement spends were nearly 74% higher than the next biggest spender, Uttar Pradesh.
Twenty-three per cent or 244 candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, it said. Serious criminal cases are non-bailable offences with over five years of imprisonment.
The Association for Democratic Reforms slams the Budget proposals on political funding, says they lack teeth and show the "lack of political will" in proposing real reforms.
Karnataka goes to polls in about a fortnight and the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress is going toe-to-toe to win the elections, results of which will be announced on May 15. Here's a simple guide to all things about the Karnataka polls.
Of the 143 candidates contesting in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections, 15 candidates have criminal cases registered against them.
A day after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet of 45 ministers, the analysis has begun. Of the 44 ministers examined, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that 13 of Modi's men have criminal charges registered against them.
The average assets of an MP are now 345.8 times that of an annual income of a tax-filing individual, reports Sachin P Mampatta.
It is people who should make an informed choice. When parties begin to realise that fielding tainted candidates is affecting their chances, they will change, says Professor Trilochan Sastry. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Congress on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court's verdict holding it along with the Bharatiya Janata Party prima facie guilty of violating the foreign funding law by receiving donations from United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources' subsidiaries.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
Hoping that the 14th Prime Minister will provide clean and exemplary governance, the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms wrote to the Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, requesting him not to induct those who had criminal cases registered against them into Parliament and his Cabinet.
Phases 1 to 4 of the Lok Sabha elections will witness 278 candidates with charges. The data of 1,566 candidates which have been analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms show that out of the 278 candidates with charges, 155 of them have serious charges against them.
For some of the business majors, the fund outgo for the 2019 elections has risen as much as 15 to 20 times, compared to the amount given to political parties five years ago.
The government said that the massive amount of political donations were earlier made in cash by individuals or corporates using 'illicit means of funding'.
The Delhi high court on Friday reserve its order on a Public Interest Litigation alleging that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party received funding from subsidiaries of United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources in violation of various Indian laws.
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