Jharkhand Polls Phase 1: Richest Candidate Has Rs 80 Crore, Poorest Has…

Jharkhand is set to vote in the first phase of the Assembly polls on Wednesday. About 1.37 crore voters out of the total 2,60 crore are eligible to vote for 43 assembly seats going to polls on Wednesday. More than 600 candidates are contesting in the first phase.

At least 235 of the 682 candidates, roughly 34%, are crorepatis, according to an analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms. Around 9.24% or 63 of the candidates have assets exceeding Rs 5 crore, while 78 candidates, representing 11.44%, own assets valued between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, the report said.

Around 198 candidates (29.03%) reported assets valued between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore. Similarly, 199 candidates, accounting for 29.18%, have assets in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Among those remaining, 144 candidates, or 21.11%, have assets valued at less than Rs 10 lakh.

Richest Candidate

Kandomani Bhumij, an independent candidate contesting from the Potka (ST) constituency in East Singhbhum district, is the wealthiest candidate in the first phase.

She has declared total assets valued at Rs 80 crore.

Poorest Candidate

Sushil Topno, a Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha candidate, is the poorest contestant in phase 1. He is contesting in the Sisai (ST) constituency of the Gumla district. Topno has declared total assets of just Rs 7,000, all in movable form. He has no immovable property.

Party-Wise Crorepati Candidates

The BJP leads with 30 of its 36 (83%) candidates declaring assets over Rs 1 crore.

On the other hand, 78% of the ruling JMM’s candidates (18 out of 23) and 94% of Congress candidates (16 out of 17) are crorepatis.

Among other parties, the BSP has 7, RJD 4, and JD(U) 2 candidates disclosing assets over Rs 1 crore, according to ADR.

The remaining 38 seats will go to polls on November 20, and the votes will be counted on November 23.