The last phase of the Indian General Election is knocking at the door, with phase 6 commencing on May 12. The recently completed phase 5 saw an overall turnout of 62.56 percent but not without some untoward incidents.
While a polling booth was bombed in the Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, snags in the EVMs, and violence in polling booths in West Bengal was reported. In the fifth phase of the general elections, 51 constituencies across 7 states in India cast their vote on May 6.
Now as May 19 comes close, 59 constituencies spread across 7 states are getting ready to vote for the next leader of our country. 8 constituencies from Bihar, 4 from Jharkhand, 10 from Haryana, 14 from Uttar Pradesh, 8 from Madhya Pradesh, 7 from Delhi-NCR, and 8 from West Bengal will be voting in the second last phase of the Indian general election.
However, here is some key information that the voters must be aware of before they go ahead to cast their votes.
Across the 59 constituencies, a total of 979 candidates are vying for votes of which we have both candidates with criminal records and candidates who are millionaires.
Indian General Election Candidates with Criminal Records
At the very least 189 candidates out of the total 979 have criminal cases against them. If we breakdown the total number then, BJP is fielding 26 candidates with criminal records, Congress has given tickets to 20, Shiv Sena to 5 and BSP to 19. Independently, 34 more candidates are fighting the election despite having criminal cases against them.
Candidates Earning in Crores
At least 311 candidates, which is 32 percent of the total number of candidates, have assets worth a minimum of 1 crore and more. 46 candidates from BJP, 31 from BSP, 37 from Congress, 71 independent, and 6 candidates from AAP have been found to have assets of over a crore. In addition to these, 69 candidates have not disclosed the details of their PAN.
Jyotiraditya Scindia from Congress with an asset value worth more than 374 crores, Gautam Gambhir from BJP with assets worth more than 147 crores, and Virender Rana with assets worth more than 102 crores are the top three candidates to have the highest annual income.
Apart from these 59 constituencies preparing to vote for the first time in the 6th Phase, 168 booths falling under the Tripura West Parliamentary constituency will vote for the second time. Although the 26 assembly segments under the Tripura West Parliamentary constituency had cast their vote on April 11 in the first phase, the re-polling is being carried out as this particular constituency has been declared void by the Election Commission.
The results for all the seven phases of the Loksabha Elections will be declared on 23 May. So, till then all we can do is to vote responsibly and pray that the “best” candidate wins.
