Lok Sabha elections 2019: 45 crorepatis, 93 below standard XII education in poll pie

PUNE: An interesting mix of candidates is in the fray for the ten seats spread across Marathwada and Vidarbha that go to the polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 18.
The 10 parliamentary constituencies of Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Beed, Osmanabad, Latur and Solapur have 23 candidates with serious criminal cases, 93 candidates with educational qualifications between standard V to standard XII and Rs2.83 crore average assets per candidate, according to a report by the Association For Democratic Reforms.
The association analysed the self-declared affidavits of all 179 candidates, except one that was unavailable, for the report released on Monday.
For their analysis, ADR has defined serious criminal cases as those that invite maximum punishment of five years or more and are non-bailable, among other criteria.
As many as 38 candidates, or about 21% of the total 178 in the fray, have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Of these, 23 candidates are facing serious criminal cases, which are at various stages of investigation and trial.
The nature of cases includes those related to unlawful assembly, trespassing, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation and cheating.
At least 45 or 25% of the total contenders in the second phase are crorepatis. Nine candidates who declared zero assets and 18 have not declared their sources of incomes, according to the report.
Among the major parties, all five candidates each of BJP, Congress and Shiv Sena are crorepatis, while the four candidates of the NCP are also from the same group. Seven of the nine candidates from Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi have assets worth crores, while three of the seven candidates from BSP have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
A majority of the candidates contesting this election are educated between standard V and standard XII.
According to the report, 93 or 52% of the total candidates have completed their primary education. At the same time, there are 71 candidates who are graduates or above.
The elections have many young candidates– especially those under 40 years of age. According to the report, there are 61 candidates aged between 25 to 40 years, while there are 86 other contenders in the fray aged between 41 to 60 years.
The second phase of Lok Sabha elections has 10 female candidates, compared to the 11 contenders in the first phase of polls.