There is an average increase of 557 per cent in individual assets of eight prominent Lok Sabha candidates in Himachal Pradesh, since they contested the elections five years ago, according to a study.
The study was carried out by the HP Election Watch, part of the National Election Watch (NEW) — a nationwide campaign of more than 1,200 NGOs working for electoral reforms and ensuring better governance in the country.
NEW has given details about the educational qualifications, criminal backgrounds, wealth and increase in assets of all the 30 candidates contesting the polls for the four Lok Sabha seats in the hill state.
“This crucial information is being released to provide information to the voters about the candidates seeking their votes,” NEW state coordinator PR Ramesh said.
“Nine candidates have total assets of Rs 1 crore and above, while five have liabilities of more than Rs 20 lakh,” he said.
The average assets of Congress candidates is around Rs 6 crore each, while it is Rs 2 crore each of BJP candidates and Rs 79,000 of BSP candidates. Of the 30 candidates, 17 are graduates. The lone woman candidate is contesting from the Rashtrawadi Sena.
The BJP’s candidate from the Hamirpur seat is Anurag Thakur, who is the son of the state chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Himachal Pradesh goes to the polls in the last phase. The main contest is between arch rivals BJP and the Congress.
