New Delhi:
The 55 Uttar Pradesh assembly constituencies that vote today together have 30 per cent more millionaires and ten per cent more politicos with criminal records than they did five years ago. Of the 284 candidates trying their luck today, over a 100 have criminal records.
The Samajwadi Party is marching behind GenNext leader Akhilesh Yadav in a bid to change its image, but it still takes top honours in fielding candidates with criminal records in the first phase. The SP has fielded 28 such candidates. The BSP and the BJP are not far behind with 24 each. The Congress trails at 15.
When it comes to wealth, the SP is soundly trounced by the BSP. Mayawati's men and women are the richest with average assets of Rs 3.83 crore each. The SP's candidates are considerably poorer at an average Rs 1.74 crore. The Congress trails here too with an average Rs 1.34 crore and even the peace party manages an average Rs 1 crore.
The richest candidate in the fray today is the BSP nominee from Colonelganj Ajay Pratap Singh, who has declared assets worth Rs 12.08 crore. Chaudhary Ravindra Pratap of the Congress from Shohratgarh is a distant second at Rs 6.56 crore and the BSP's Barabanki candidate Sangram Singh has seemingly moderate assets of Rs 5.5 crore.
The JD(U) is simply not playing those stakes with average declared assets of Rs 32.09 lakh per candidate fielded, but at least one of its candidates, Kaushalendra Nath from Tulsipur, has shown the biggest increase in wealth, an over 12 per cent rise - his gross declared assets were worth Rs 51.94 lakh in 2007; he now has assets worth Rs 68.42 lakh.
On the other side is Sher Bahadur of the SP, the candidate in Jalalpur and a sitting MLA. His assets have fallen by 35 per cent -from Rs 31.87 lakh in 2007 to Rs 20.73 lakh in 2012.
The Samajwadi Party is marching behind GenNext leader Akhilesh Yadav in a bid to change its image, but it still takes top honours in fielding candidates with criminal records in the first phase. The SP has fielded 28 such candidates. The BSP and the BJP are not far behind with 24 each. The Congress trails at 15.
When it comes to wealth, the SP is soundly trounced by the BSP. Mayawati's men and women are the richest with average assets of Rs 3.83 crore each. The SP's candidates are considerably poorer at an average Rs 1.74 crore. The Congress trails here too with an average Rs 1.34 crore and even the peace party manages an average Rs 1 crore.
The richest candidate in the fray today is the BSP nominee from Colonelganj Ajay Pratap Singh, who has declared assets worth Rs 12.08 crore. Chaudhary Ravindra Pratap of the Congress from Shohratgarh is a distant second at Rs 6.56 crore and the BSP's Barabanki candidate Sangram Singh has seemingly moderate assets of Rs 5.5 crore.
The JD(U) is simply not playing those stakes with average declared assets of Rs 32.09 lakh per candidate fielded, but at least one of its candidates, Kaushalendra Nath from Tulsipur, has shown the biggest increase in wealth, an over 12 per cent rise - his gross declared assets were worth Rs 51.94 lakh in 2007; he now has assets worth Rs 68.42 lakh.
On the other side is Sher Bahadur of the SP, the candidate in Jalalpur and a sitting MLA. His assets have fallen by 35 per cent -from Rs 31.87 lakh in 2007 to Rs 20.73 lakh in 2012.
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