230 'crorepatis' in Delhi poll fray, Congress fields maximum

NEW DELHI: As many as 230 out of 673 candidates in fray for February 7 Delhi polls are crorepatis, the election watchdog ADR said today, noting that Congress has fielded maximum such candidates.

"230 candidates in the poll fray are crorepatis. During the 2013 and 2008 Assembly polls, the number of crorepatis in fray were 265 and 180 respectively," Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member ADR, said at a press conference here.

The Association of Democratic reforms, on basis of an analysis of the affidavits of the poll nominees, pointed out that 62 candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 10 crore.

"Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who is contesting on a Shiromani Akali Dal ticket from Rajouri Garden constituency, is the richest candidate in fray with assets worth over Rs 239 crore. He is followed by AAP's Parmila Tokas contesting from RK Purama and BJP's Sat Prakash Rana contesting from Bijwasan constituency. They have assets worth Rs 87 crore and 78 crore respectively," he said.

Sirsa also featured on top of the list of candidates with high liabilities and high income declared in Income Tax Returns (ITR).

The organisation observed that Congress has fielded maximum of 59 crorepatis while BJP and AAP have fielded 44 and 28 crorepatis each.

Sushil Kumar Mishra of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha who is contesting from Burari has declared zero assets.

A total of 80 candidates have declared assets less than Rs 1 lakh while three candidates have declared assets as low as Rs 100, Rs 1300 and Rs 1500 respectively.