Phase 1: 106 of 152 BJP candidates, 63 of 148 Trinamool nominees have criminal cases

Kolkata: Of the 1,478 candidates contesting the first phase of the Bengal elections, almost one-fifth are crorepatis, most of them being Trinamool contenders. The poorest candidate, with assets of Rs 500, is from the new Aam Janata Unnayan Party. The figures were revealed in an analysis by Association for Democratic Rights (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW).

The ADR deciphered the data by analysing the affidavits of first-phase 1,475 candidates; those of three had glitches.


Of the 152 BJP candidates, 106 had pending criminal cases, 96 of whom held records of serious offences, the study showed. In Trinamool, 63 out of the 148 contenders, had pending criminal cases and 48 had records of serious offences.

While 228 candidates had assets of Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, 46 had between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore and 35 over Rs 10 crore. Leading the list is Trinamool's Jangipur candidate Jakir Hossain, with assets of over Rs 133 crore, followed by Trinamool's Barjora candidate Goutam Mishra (Rs 105 cr) and Durgapur West contender Kabi Datta (Rs 72 cr).

One hundred-and-six candidates of Trinamool, 71 of BJP, 50 of Congress and 24 of CPM were crorepatis, the data showed. The average asset of Trinamool's candidates is higher at Rs 5.7 crore, while that of BJP's candidates is Rs 2.5 crore. The average asset value of Congress candidates is Rs 2 crore. CPM candidates have an average asset of little above Rs 92 lakh.

The poorest is AJUP's Durgapur East candidate Rubiya Begam with Rs 500, followed by SUCI's Midnapore candidate Sushrita Saren (Rs 700) and Jalpaiguri's Jashoda Barman (Rs 924).

The report showed 23% of contenders had pending criminal cases and 20% serious offences. Ujjaini Halim, state coordinator of ADR and WBEW, said 66 out of the 152 seats had three candidates in each constituency with criminal records. Six have pending rape cases. In ISF, six of eight contenders have serious offences, including rape, murder and murder attempt. Of the nine AIMIM contenders, six have pending criminal cases, four of them with serious offences. WB Socialist Party and SDPI filed one candidate each, and both have serious offences against them. Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.