The Uttarakhand Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 626 candidates out of 632, who are contesting in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections 2022. Six candidates were not analysed as their affidavits were either badly scanned or complete affidavits were not uploaded on the ECI website. The analysis revealed that 107 (17 per cent) out of 626 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, out of 637 candidates analysed, 91 (14 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves. Further, 61 (10 per cent) candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves while this figure was eight per cent in the 2017 polls. Among the major parties, 23 (33 per cent) out of 70 candidates analysed from Congress, 13 (19 per cent) out of 70 candidates analysed from BJP, 15 (22 per cent) out of 69 candidates analysed from AAP, 10 (19 per cent) out of 54 candidates analysed from BSP and seven (17 per cent) out of 42 candidates analysed from UKD have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Further, 11 (16 per cent) out of 70 Congress candidates, eight (11 per cent) out of 70 BJP candidates, nine (13 per cent) out of 69 AAP candidates, six (11 per cent) out of 54 BSP candidates and four (10 per cent) out of 42 UKD candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Thirteen out of 70 constituencies- 19 per cent, are red alert constituencies where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
When it comes to the wealth of the candidates, out of the 626 candidates, 252 (40 per cent) are crorepatis. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, out of 637 candidates, 200 (31 per cent) were crorepatis. Congress candidate from Laksar, Antriksh Saini is the wealthiest with declared assets of worth more than Rs 123 crore followed by BJP’s Chaubattakhal candidate Satpal Maharaj with more than Rs 87 crore of declared assets and UKD’s Srinagar candidate Mohan Kala with more than Rs 82 crore worth of declared assets.
Among the major parties 60 (86 per cent) out of 70 BJP candidates, 56 (80 per cent) out of 70 Congress candidates, 31 (45 per cent) out of 69 AAP candidates, 18 (33 per cent) out of 54 BSP candidates and 12 (29 per cent) out of 42 UKD candidates have declared assets valued at more than Rs one crore. On the other hand, top three candidates with lowest assets include SUCI (C) Srinagar candidate Sandeep Kumar with total assets worth Rs 1,000, SP’s Lohaghat candidate Nisar Khan with Rs 1,500 worth total assets and Right to Recall Party’s Kotdwar candidate Akash Negi with total assets worth Rs 4,548.