Lok Sabha elections 3rd Phase: 'Crorepati' parties sweating over poverty issue in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: As ironic as it may sound but almost all the candidates of major political parties, who have crores of rupees in their kitty, are trying to woo the electorates on the issues of poverty and unemployment in the the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

With all candidates in the third phase being millionaires, it is amusing to find Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), attacking each other on issues of poverty, unemployment, inflation and corruption, have given priority to 'crorepatis' while selecting candidates.

This is according to an analysis of affidavits of all 100 candidates in the third phase by the UP Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). They are contesting from 10 constituencies -- Agra, Awala, Badaun, Bareilly, Etah, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Hathras Mainpuri and Sambhal.

Chief Convenor of UP Election Watch Sanjay Singh said that in the third phase of elections, 46 out of 100 that is 46 per cent candidates are 'crorepatis'.

"10 out of 10 candidates of BJP, nine out of nine of SP and nine out of nine of BSP are "crorepartis'. Among the others, one out of three of Peace Party, one of two from Swaraj Bharatiya Nyay Party and one of Jan Shakti Ekta Party are millionaires," as per the analysis.

He said that the average assets of the candidates in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in UP is Rs 6.94 crore, in which the average assets of 10 BJP candidates are around Rs 11.74 crore, the average assets of nine SP nominee is Rs 47.67 crore and the average asset of BSP candidates is Rs 9.45 crore.

In the third phase, SP candidate from Bareilly Praveen Singh Aron has assets worth around Rs 182 crore. Similarly, the assets of SP's Akshay Yadav are around Rs 136 crore. Dimple Yadav, wife of SP president Akhilesh Yadav and candidate from Mainpuri, has assets worth around Rs 42 crore.

The three Independent candidates with declared minimum assets, are Hasanuram Ambedkari, who is contesting as Agra Lok Sabha seat, has total assets of Rs 12,000. Kailash Kumar, who is contesting from Etah, has Rs 19,000 in asset. Whereas Ravi Kumar, who is also contesting from Etah, has declared his total assets as Rs 21,000.

State convenor of the UP Election Watch state Santosh Srivastava said that 25 per cent of the candidates in the third phase have criminal cases against them. "Of these, 20 percent candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. If we look at the party-wise details of candidates who have declared criminal cases, 40 percent of BJP, 56 of SP and 44 percent of BSP candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves," he said.

Congress candidate from Fatehpur Sikri Ramnath Singh Sikarwar with 17 criminal cases registered against him has the highest number of cases in criminal record. While second candidate with a criminal image is BSP candidate from Firozabad, Chaudhary Bashir.