156 multi-millionaires to contest poll
Panaji: As many as 156 of the 251 candidates in the February 4 Goa Assembly elections are crorepatis or multi-millionaires, an analysis of the information furnished by candidates in their election affidavits revealed.
The data analysis, released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), showed that 97 per cent of candidates of the ruling BJP are multi-millionaires, followed by the Congress at 92 per cent and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with 52 per cent.
Ranjit Cotta Carvalho (AAP) leads the pack with the highest declared assets of over Rs65 crore, Michael Vincent lobo (BJP) with over Rs54 crore and Pratapsingh R Rane (Congress) with over Rs50 crore.
The percentage of candidates with pending criminal cases is quite low. Only 38 out of the 251 candidates (15 per cent) have declared criminal cases against them. A total of 19 candidates (8 per cent) have serious criminal charges against them.
Party-wise, most candidates with criminal cases are from the Congress (9 of 37, or 24 per cent), followed by the BJP (17 per cent) and the AAP (8 per cent).