Bengal sends 31 crorepatis to Lok Sabha, 5 more thatn 2014

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Of the 42 elected Lok Sabha MPs from West Bengal, 31 are crorepatis, five more from than the 2014 tally, while 23 parliamentarians have declared criminal cases against them, a study said.

Compared to the 26 MPs in 2014 who had assets worth over Rs 1 crore, 31 out of the 42 MPs in 2019 are crorepatis, according to an analysis by the West Bengal Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Among the crorepatis, Trinamool Congress MP from Jangipur Khalilur Rahman topped the list with assets worth over Rs 36 crore, followed by the party's Ghatal MP and Bengali filmstar Deepak (Dev) Adhikari (Rs 36 crore) and Congress' Malda South MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury (Rs 27 crore).

While both Chowdhury and Adhikari have been re-lected from their respective constituencies, Rahman is a first time MP. Of the 42 elected MPs, first time parliamentarian from Bolpur, Asit Kumar Mal of the Trinamool, had the lowest assets worth Rs 13 lakh. Two debutant BJP MPs -- John Barla from Alipurduar (Rs 14 lakh) and Jyotirmay Singh Mahato from Purulia (Rs 22 lakh) -- were among the MPs with low assets.

"Out of the 42 winners analysed, 23 have declared criminal cases against themselves," the study said.

In 2014, 8 winners had declared criminal cases against them.

--IANS

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