About 23 per cent of candidates contesting the second phase of the West Bengal assembly polls have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 22 per cent have assets worth over Rs 1 crore, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed.
The report analysed 1,445 candidates and found that 338 of them, or 23 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves, and 295 candidates, or 20 per cent, have disclosed serious criminal cases against themselves.
It also found that 16 candidates have declared murder charges, while 80 are facing attempt to murder charges.
Among the major parties, 102 (72 per cent) out of 141 candidates analysed from the BJP, 49 (35 per cent) out of 142 candidates from TMC, 51 (51 per cent) out of 100 candidates from CPI(M) and 37 (26 per cent) out of 142 analysed from the Congress have declared criminal cases against themselves in their poll affidavits, the ADR report said.
Out of 142 constituencies, 63 (44 per cent) are "red alert" constituencies which have three or more candidates with criminal cases, it said.
Out of the 1,445 candidates, 321 (22 per cent) have assets worth over Rs 1 crore.
Among the major parties, 103 (73 per cent) out of 142 candidates analysed from TMC, 73 (52 per cent) out of 141 candidates analysed from the BJP, 36 (25 per cent) out of 142 candidates from the Congress and 33 (33 per cent) out of 100 candidates analysed from the CPI(M) have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore, the ADR said.
The average of assets per candidate contesting in the West Bengal assembly elections 2026 Phase II is Rs 1.21 crore, it added.
Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 142 TMC candidates analysed is Rs 5.05 crore, for 141 BJP candidates is Rs 3.28 crore, for 100 CPI(M) is Rs 1.22 crore and for 142 Congress candidates is Rs 1.04 crore, the report said.
The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
(With inputs from PTI)