The National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have released their analysis of the affidavits of all 64 candidates in the first round of voting on April 7.
What: Day 1 of Lok Sabha polls
When: April 7, 2014
Where: Five Lok Sabha seats in Assam and one in Tripura
Who: 64 candidates (51 from five constituencies Assam and 13 from one constituency in Tripura)
From: Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Asom Gana Parisad (AGP), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), CPI(M), Indigenous Peoples Front Of Tripura (IPFT) and independent candidates
Criminality
Six candidates (9%) face criminal cases
♦ One from AGP, one from CPI(M), one from IPFT, three independent candidates
Three face serious criminal cases*
♦ One from AGP, two independent candidates
♦ Hariprasad Dihingia of the AGP from Lakhimpur constituency in Assam and Independent candidate Subal Bhowmik from Tripura's Tripura West constituency have declared they have four counts of serious charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
♦ They are followed by Moni Kumar Subba, an Independent candidate from Tezpur constituency in Assam, with three serious counts.
♦ Subal Bhowmik an Independent candidate from Tripura West constituency in Tripura has declared he has a case related to attempt to murder against him.
♦ Moni Kumar Subba, an Independent candidate from Assam's Tezpur constituency, faces charges in a case related to rape
(*The criteria for serious criminal cases include those with a maximum punishment of five years or more, non-bailable cases, electoral offences under IPC 171E or bribery, related to loss to exchequer, related to assault, murder, kidnap, rape, mentioned in Representation of the People Act (Section 8), under Prevention of Corruption Act and crimes against women)
Finances
Crorepati candidates
♦ 16 of the 64 candidates have assets worth Rs 1 crore or more
♦ Only 10 candidates have declared assets worth less than Rs 4 lakh
♦ Average assets per candidate is Rs 5.75 crore
♦ Hrishikesh Baruah, independent candidate from Lakhimpur, is the poorest, with a declared income of just Rs 9,000
Moni Kumar Subba is the richest candidate, with declared assets of over Rs 306 crore. He is the richest candidate from the entire northeast region and one of the richest in the country.