Analysis of Criminal, Financial and other details declared by candidates contesting in the 1st Phase of Gujarat Assembly Elections. Also attached in the Analysis of asset increase of 85 re-contesting Candidates 

For Detailed Reports on Analysis of ITR please visit http://adrindia.org/content/recent-upcoming-elections

Highlights of the report:

·         Gujarat Election Watch (GEW) has analyzed affidavits of 482 candidates out of 846 candidates who are contesting in the 1^st phase of Gujarat 2012 Assembly Elections.

·         Out of these 482 candidates analyzed for the 1^st phase of Gujarat Assembly Elections, 104 candidates or 22 % declared criminal cases against them. In 2007 assembly elections for the whole of Gujarat, 23% candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.

·        Amongst major parties, every party has given tickets to candidates who have declared criminal cases. INC has 27 out of 83 (33 %), BJP has 22 out of 87 (25%) ,BSP has 7 out of 78 (9 %), JD(U) has 7 out of 29 (24 %), SP has 5 out of 19 (26%), NCP has 2 out of 3 (67%)and GPP has 21 out of 83 (25 %) candidates with declared criminal cases.

·         Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of these 104 candidates with declared criminal cases, 46 have declared serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion etc. GPP has 11, INC has 8, BJP has 9, JD (U) has 6, NCP has 2 and BSP has 1 such candidates.

·        Candidates against whom charges have been framed: Out of these 104 candidates with declared criminal cases, charges have been framed against 73 candidates with cases of kidnapping, Murder, dacoity etc. 

·        Candidates with Heinous & Violent Crime Cases:The following candidates have declared serious criminal cases of murder, kidnapping and theft against them: (1) Vasava Chhotubhai Amarsinh (of JD(U) from Jhagadia(ST) constituency) has declared three charges of murder and 1 charge related to attempt to murder.(2) Maheshbhai chhotubhai Vasava (of JD(U) from Dediapada (ST) constituency) has declared two charges related to murder and 1 charge related to attempt to murder  (3) Patel Altaf Gafurbhai (of JD(U) contesting from Vagra constituency) has declared 1 charges related to murder 4)Somani Jitendrabhai Kantilal (BJP) from Wankaner constituency has declared two charges relating to attempt to murder 5) Arjunbhai Laljibhai Gamit (JD(U)) contesting from Nizar (ST) constituency too has declared two charges relating to attempt to murder amongst other charges.

• Candidates with cases under Prevention of Corruption Act:  1 Candidate have declared that they have cases registered against them under the “Prevention of Corruption Act”, namely Barad Jashabhai Bhanabhai (INC) from Somnath constituency.

Highlights of Analysis of Financial and Other Background details of Candidates Contesting in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012

·         Gujarat Election Watch (GEW) has analyzed affidavits of 482 candidates out of 846 candidates who are contesting in the first phase of the Gujarat 2012 Assembly Elections.

·         A total of 147 candidates out of 482 analyzed i.e. 30% are crorepatis. In 2007, there were 21% crorepati candidates.

·         The top three candidates who have declared the highest assets are Rajguru Indranil Sanjaybhai of INC from Rajkot East constituency who has declared assets worth Rs. 122 crores, followed by Chavada Javaharbhai Pethalajibhai, of INC from Manavadar constituency with Rs. 82 crores worth of assets and Parmar Rajabhai Parbatbhai of BSP from Somnath constituency with assets worth Rs. 40 crores

·         A total of 39 candidates out of 482 analyzed have declared assets less than Rs. 1 Lakh.

·         The three candidates with lowest assets are Mineshbhai Maganbhai Patel of GPP from Valsad constituency who has declared that he has zero assets, followed by Bismilla Abdulkhan Pathan (IND) from Rajkot South constituency with assets worth Rs. 1000 only.

·         A total of 47 candidates out of 482 analyzed have declared liabilities of Rs. 50 lakhs or above.

·         The top three candidates with highest liabilities are Rajguru Indranil Sanjaybhai, an INC candidate from Rajkot East who has declared the highest liabilities worth Rs. 27.14 Crores followed by Jitendrabhai Kantilal Somani of BJP from Wankaner constituency with liabilities of Rs. 17.69 Crores and Kamabhai Gagjibhai Rathod a BJP candidate from Sanand constituency with liabilities of Rs. 12.45 Crores.

·         Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for INC is Rs 6.40 Crores, for BJP is 4.48 Crores, for GPP is 1.07 Crores, for BSP is 75.39 Lakhs, for JD(U) is 22.61 Lakhs, for SP is 19.54 Lakhs, and for NCP is Rs 10.43 Crores.

·         103 out of 482 (21%) candidates analyzed in the first phase of the Gujarat 2012 Assembly Elections have not declared their PAN details.

·         6 Crorepati Candidates have not declared their PAN details.

·         32 out of 78 candidates of BSP have not declared their PAN, 15 out of 83 candidates of GPP have not declared their PAN and 10 out of 19 of SP have not declared PAN details.

·         A total of 139 (29%) candidates (out of 482 analyzed) are graduate or with higher educational qualification.

·         Out of 482 contesting candidates analyzed in Gujarat 2012 Assembly Elections, the number of female candidates is 27 (6%). In 2007 Gujarat Elections the number of female candidates were 46 out of 553, i.e. only 8% for the whole state.

·         A total of 17 candidates out of the total 482 analyzed are more than 65 years of age.

Highlights of Report on Analysis of Income Tax Returns Details of candidates contesting in the first phase for Gujarat State Assembly Elections 2012:

1.  SOLANKI HIRABHAI ODHAVJIBHAI, of BJP from Rajula constituency has declared the highest income of Rs. 3.41 Crores in his last Income Tax return. He is followed by Italiya Ghanshyambhai Kanjibhai (GPP) from Katargam constituency and has declared income of Rs. 3.41 Crores in his last ITR, and Pabubha Virambha Manek, of BJP from Dwarka constituency who has declared income of Rs. 3.25 crore as per his last filed Income Tax Returns.

2.  A total of 240 candidates (50%) out of the 482 candidates analyzed by the Gujarat Election Watch have declared that they have never filed income tax returns.

3.  Out of the 240 candidates analyzed who have never filed income tax returns, BJP has 12 (14%) out of 87 candidates, INC has 16 (19%) out of 83 candidates, GPP has 35 (42%) out of 83 candidates and BSP has 61 (78%) out of 78 candidates, and JD(U) has 23(79%) out of 29 candidates who have not filed IT Returns.

4. High Assets but no IT Return: Top 3 candidates with maximum assets but who have never filed IT returns are Parmar Rajabhai Parbatbhai of BSP contesting from Somnath with total assets of Rs. 40.75 crores. He is followed by Jadeja Kandhalbhai Sarmanbhai of NCP from Kutiyana with assets of Rs. 28.29 crores and Vithalbhai Hanshrajbhai Radadia of INC from Dhoraji  with Rs. 5.62 crores respectively.

5. Gujarat Election Watch and ADR appeal to the voters of Gujarat to know what their candidates write in their affidavits so that they can make an informed choice on 13^th December 2012

Highlights of Report on Asset Comparison of Re-contesting Candidates and MLAs

Re-Contesting Candidates

·         85 re-contesting (candidates who fought elections in 2007 and now in 2012 are again in the fray) candidates have been analyzed for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012

·         The average assets of these candidates fielded by various parties in 2007 was Rs 1,42,81,124 (1.42 crore)

·         The average assets of the re-contesting candidates now in 2012 is Rs 4,24,16,673 (4.24 crore)

·         The average asset growth for these re-contesting candidates is Rs 3,79,93,432  (3.79 crore)

·         Average percentage growth in assets for these re-contesting candidates is 266%

·         The maximum growth in assets has been for Chavada Javaharbhai Pethalajibhai of INC from Manavadar with an increase of Rs 64.57 crore i.e. from Rs. 18.32 crores in 2007 to Rs. 82.90 crores in 2012. Assets of Parshottambhai Odhavjibhai Solanki (of BJP from Bhavnagar Rural) have increased by Rs 26.23 crore, from Rs 11.38 crore in 2007 to Rs 37.61 crore in 2012. Assets of Kamabhai Gagjibhai Rathod (of BJP from Sanand) have risen by Rs 22.90 crore, from Rs 1.55 crore in 2007 to Rs 24.46 crore in 2012.

·         The highest percentage increase (2860%) in assets has been declared by Vasava Chhotubhai Amarsinh of JD (U) from Jhagadia constituency. Chhotubhai Vasava’s  assets increased from Rs. 9.15 lakhs in 2007 to Rs 2.70 crore in 2012. Bhavnaben Raghavbhai Makwana of BJP from Mahuva constituency has declared an increase in assets of 2275%, his assets have risen from Rs. 3.67 lakh in 2007 to Rs 87.35 lakh in 2012. Kamabhai Gagjibhai Rathod of BJP from Sanand constituency falls at third position with 1469% increase in assets; his assets have grown from Rs 1.55 crores in 2007 to Rs 24.46 in 2012.

·         4 candidates have reported decrease in assets in 2012 as compared to value of assets in 2007. They are Mohanbhai Dahyabhai Patel (60% reduction in assets, from Rs 2 lakh in 2007 election to Rs 80 thousand in 2012) of JD(U) from Mahuva, Kirankumar Laxmanbhai Makwana (45% dip in assets, from Rs 21.54 lakh in 2007 to Rs 11.93 lakh in 2012) of INC from Jambusar, Mohanbhai Dhanjibhai Dhondia of BJP from Mahuva(ST) (27% fall in assets, from Rs 72.09 lakh in 2007 to Rs 52.61 lakh in 2012), Govindbhai Ukabhai Patel (22% decline in assets, Rs 1.48 crore in 2007 to Rs 1.16 crore in 2012 ) of BJP from Rajkot South.

Re-contesting MLAs

·         56 sitting MLAs who are again contesting elections (whom we call re-contesting MLAs) have been analyzed for first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012

·         The average assets of these re-contesting MLAs in 2007 was Rs 1,61,72,245 (1.38 crore)  

·         The average assets of these MLAs who are contesting elections again now in 2012 is Rs 6,03,24,729   (6.03 crore)

·         The average growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is Rs 4,41,52,484   (Rs 4.41crore)

·         Average percentage growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is 273%

·         Javaharbhai Pethalabhaiji Chavada an INC MLA from Manavadar has declared the highest increase in assets of Rs 64.57 crore, his assets have grown from Rs. 18.32 crore in 2007 to Rs 82.90 crore in 2012. Assets of Parshottambhai Odhavjibhai Solanki (a BJP MLA from Bhavnagar Rural) have increased by Rs 26.23 crore, from Rs 11.38 crore in 2007 to Rs 37.61 crore in 2012. Assets of Kamabhai Gagjibhai Rathod (of BJP from Sanand) have risen by Rs 22.90 crore, from Rs 1.55 crores in 2007 to Rs 24.46 crore in 2012. Hirabhai Odhavjibhai Solanki (of BJP from Rajula) also has declared an increase of Rs 22.01 crore in assets, from Rs 12.79 crores to Rs 34.81 crore in 2012.

·         Chhotubhai Amarsing Vasava a JD (U) MLA from Jhagadia(ST) has declared the highest percentage increase in assets of 2860%, from Rs 9.15 lakh in 2007 to Rs 2.70 crore in 2012. Bhavnaben Raghavbhai Makwana a BJP MLA from Mahuva has shown a percentage increase in assets of 2275%, from Rs 3.67 lakh in 2007 to Rs 87.35 lakh in 2012. Kamabhai Gagjibhai Rathod a BJP MLA from Sanand has shown his assets go up by 1469%, from Rs 1.55 crores in 2007 to Rs 24.46 crores in 2012.

·         2 MLAs have reported a decrease in assets in 2012 as compared to their correponding value of assets in 2007. They are Kirankumar Laxmanbhai Makwana(45% reduction in assets, from Rs 21.54 lakh in 2007 elections to Rs 11.93 lakh in 2012) of INC from Jambusar, Govindbhai Ukabhai Patel(22% dip in assets, from Rs 1.48 Crore in 2007 to Rs 1.16 Crore in 2012) of BJP from Rajkot South.

For more details regarding the Conference, please contact: 

For Gujarat Election Watch

Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar
+91-99996-20944jchhokar@gmail.com

gew@adrindia.org

For National Election Watch/Association for Democratic Reforms:

Media and Journalist Helpline +91 80103 94248 Email: adr@adrindia.org

Mr. Anil Bairwal, National Coordinator National Election Watch, and Association for Democratic Reforms +91 80103 94248 +91 9999310100 adr@adrIndia.org, anil@adrIndia.org

Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919448353285, trilochans@iimb.ernet.in

Mr. Ajit Ranade Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91-97022-15312 ajit.ranade@gmail.com

        SJ Foundation honours 20 outstanding Selfless Individuals & Organisations

December 4, 2012

Awardees for India’s biggest prize in the Social sector felicitated with Rs 8 crores
- SJ Foundation honours 20 outstanding Selfless Individuals & Organisations with S R Jindal Prizes in 8 categories all related to social upliftment.
- Sri Sri Ravishankar graced the occasion as Chief Guest and honored 20 Awardees
Dr. Vijay P Bhatkar & Bharat Lok Siksha Parishad receive Rs one crore each
New Delhi : SJ Foundation honoured 20 Outstanding Selfless Workers, including Dr.E Sreedharan, Late Satyendra Kumar Dubey and Subhash Chandra Agarwal by bestowing SR Jindal Prize 2012 at a glittering Felicitation Ceremony held in the Capital, today. Those honoured with total prize money worth Rs. 8 Crores included individuals and Institutions who are beacons of selfless service to the society.
The S R Jindal Prizes 2012 were bestowed for the following eight categories: a) Agriculture, Rural Development & Poverty Alleviation; b) Healthcare – including drugless healing and Naturecare; c) Education – with emphasis on moral upliftment; d) Science, Technology and Environment; e) Peace, Social Harmony and Social Development; f) Crusade against Corruption; g) Exceptional Social Service and h) Exemplary Service to mankind in any field. One honorary Award was also given.The icon of non violence and universal human values Sri Sri Ravishankarji who seeks global peace through service and dialogue honoured the awardees. Mr. Justice R C Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India & Chairman of Jury presided over the ceremony where the winners were honored.
The S R Jindal Prize has been instituted last year to accolade exceptional service of current significance rendered by individuals or organisations for the welfare of Indian citizens in the country. It is expected that the recognition garnered by the S R Jindal Prize awardees will catalyze their efforts towards social upliftment. Prizes of Rs. 1 Crore each were bestowed upon Dr. Vijay P Bhatkar for Science and Technology and Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad in the field of Peace, Social Harmony and Socail Development.
Patron of SJ Foundation & CMD of Jindal Aluminum, Dr. Sitaram Jindal’s vision is “The most practical and meaningful way to give back to society, I feel, is to bring hope to the poor and downtrodden in distress. I admire Albert Einstein for his belief “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” It is imperative that the society acknowledges the contribution of selfless workers working silently and honours them with the amount of respect they deserve, so that others are inspired to take the cause ahead. It is with this objective in view that the Foundation had decided to institute the “SR Jindal Prize”.
S R Jindal Prize (Honorary) was awarded to Dr. E Sreedharan for his exceptional contribution in the establishment and development of Delhi Metro.
Established in 1969, the S R Jindal Foundation is an apolitical, non religious and charitable trust, engaged in the field of education, health and social service with special emphasis on nature cure. The Foundation, besides extending financial support to other charitable institutions, has also directly set up several educational institutions and hospitals. The Foundation also assists the poor and deserving students through scholarships. More details about the foundation available at www.srjf.org.
S R Jindal Prize of Rs. 1 cr for Agriculture, Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation was bestowed jointly on BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune for empowering 45 lakh Tribal & Rural Families in 12 States and Rashtriya Seva Samithi (RASS),Tirupati for benefiting over 10 lakh villagers in 3 states.
Dr. Sitaram Jindal has set aside Rs. 125 Crores to form a corpus of funds for creating a perpetual Prize, to honour the deserving, year after year. Such perpetual financial stability of Prize Schemes is uncommon except in rare cases like the Nobel Prize.
Aravind Eye Hospitals & The Banyan, Chennai have been jointly awarded SR Jindal Prize under the category of Health, including drugless healing and nature cure. Aravind Eye Hospitals provide quality eye care to 27 lakh patients every year and The Banyan, Chennai works for Treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill homeless women. This Award carries a Cash Prize of Rs. 1 Crore to be shared equally.
SR Jindal Prize, under the category of Education – with emphasis on moral upliftment has been bestowed jointly upon Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari and SOS Children’s Villages of India. Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari is engaged in educational service running 63 schools with about 22,000 students maintaining high academic and moral standards in six states in India. SOS Children’s Villages of India provides free education and health care to 6135 destitute children in family environment and care. This Award carries a Cash Prize of Rs. 1 Crore to be shared equally.
Bhagwan Mahaveer Vikalang Sahayata Samiti which has been providing over 20000 artificial limbs per year to the disabled and Narain Seva Sansthan,Udaipur which provides free treatment and rehabilitation to polio affected persons, have been awarded SR Jindal Prize of Rs. 1 cr to be shared equally under the category of Exceptional Social Service.
S R Jindal Prize for Crusade against Corruption of Rs. 1 cr to be shared equally was given jointly to (Late) Satyendra Kumar Dubey, the Whistle blower who sacrificed his life for exposing corruption in NHAI, Shri Sanjeeb Singh Katiyar, Alias Sanjeeba for exposing and fighting corruption through NUKKAD NATAKS, Shri Subhash Chandra Agrawal for exposing corruption through RTI Act and Shri Ajay Shankar Dubey for exposing corruption in mining lease cases and MGNREGS in M.P.
Smt. Fulbasan Yadav, Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Shri.T.Duryodhana Reddy, Mr. Dipendra Manocha, and Amar Sewa Sangam have been jointly awarded SR Jindal Prize in the category of ‘Exemplary Service to Mankind in any field’. The Award carries a Cash Prize of Rs. 1 Crore to be shared equally.
S R Jindal Prize had attracted close to 2700 nominations this year, mirroring the exceptional response for the Prize. The nominations were invited from across India through advertisements in print and electronic media as well as the website of SJ Foundation. The nominations received were adjudicated by the Jury comprising eminent persons of high integrity through a process independent of the working of the Foundation. These Prizes will be awarded every year, year after year.
This year the Jury constituted of eminent personalities like Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.C. Lahoti, Former Chief Justice of India as the Chairman, Mr. Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court as Vice Chairman, Mr. V. K. Shunglu, former C&AG of India, Mr. Dhanendra Kumar, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of Culture in the Government of India, Dr. Ved Pratap Vaidik, Eminent Journalist, Mr. Naseem Ahmad, Ex- Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University as members and Mr. N.P. Gupta, IAS (Retd) and Secretary General, SJ Foundation as member secretary.
More Details of the Awardees are available at : www.sjfprize.org

BJP releases manifesto for Gujarat polls

BJP releases manifesto for Gujarat polls

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released BJP's manifesto for the state Assembly elections, saying that it is a blueprint for development of all sections of the society.  The party's manifesto promises to address the problems of urban and rural housing, water, irrigation apart from resolving farmers' issues.  In it, Modi has promised to define a new category of "neo-middle class," those who have grown above the poverty line but still do not come in the category of middle class. Modi said his government will form various schemes to benefit this class who need a helping hand.  "Due to development in Gujarat in the last ten years, there has been substantial rise in this neo-middle class. We want to address their issues," Modi said. Seemingly to counter the Congress' poll promises of providing clothes and houses at an affordable rate to rural and urban poor respectively, the BJP manifesto promises to construct 50 lakh new houses in the next five years. Congress' promised scheme of low-cost housing had gained huge response from the people and thousands had queued up in urban and rural areas to get the forms distributed by the party. However, when asked if his manifesto promise of making 50 lakh houses was in reply to the opposition party's scheme, Modi said many parties like Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and JD (U) have also released their manifestoes. "Before the last elections, we had promised 20 lakh houses and before this polls, we are promising 50 lakh houses," he said.

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Dec 3 Vol 01, Issue 1092 TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES IOA claims polls as per Olympic Charter, IOA constitution IOA's claims notwithstanding, Clean Sports India writes to IOC, apprising apex body about gross violation of "ethics" by office-bearers of IOA ahead of its upcoming elections India-Pak Match Fixing: A Possible Reality Or A Case Of Sour Grapes? INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE - Such stories are a reflection of the growing discomfort with the rising influence of the sub-continental countries, both on and off the cricket field Narain 2013 F1 stint in doubt; one spot opens up in Force India Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan might not be racing in the 2013 Formula One season as his team HRT was omitted from the 2013 championship list released by the FIA Barry Anderson named HIL tournament director Anderson has been part of three FIH Champions Trophy tournaments including Chennai in 2005, three Champions Challenge tournaments, World Cup Qualifying Tournament and was TD at the 2011 European Championships Independent commission looking into Lance Armstrong affair UCI to also announce details of wide-ranging stakeholder consultation to look into future of cycling and discuss how to bring in lasting improvements Phatlum wins Hero Women's Indian open for 3rd time; Aditi in top 10 Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum won the Hero Women’s Indian Open a record third time at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Sunday Feature – Kick It Out! Tackling Racism in Football The controversy concerning racism in English professional football over the past year came to a conclusion earlier this month, as the English Football Association (“FA”) sanctioned Chelsea Football Club (“Chelsea”) captain John Terry over alleged racist comments made to Queens Park Rangers (“QPR”) defender Anton Ferdinand.
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On cash transfer scheme, EC seeks Cab Sec’s reply

Unhappy over cash transfer scheme, EC seeks Cab Sec’s reply

The Election Commission conveyed its unhappiness to the Centre over announcement of its direct cash transfer scheme when the Model Code in poll- bound Gujarat is in force and sought a report by Monday evening.  The EC on Sunday also warned of appropriate action if the government’s reply to its letter does not come by then.   In a strongly-worded letter to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, the EC expressed its unhappiness over the timing of the announcement by the Government and said it could have been avoided in view of the Gujarat Assembly elections later this month.   “We have asked the Cabinet Secretary to give us a factual report on the issue by Monday evening and if we do not get a reply we will proceed with action,” a top official of the Election Commission said.   Incidentally, four of the 51 districts in which the cash transfer scheme is to be implemented from 1st January next fall inGujarat.   Sources said the EC’s fresh letter to the Cabinet Secretary was the second reminder in the matter.   The Gujarat unit of BJP had on Thursday petitioned the poll body in this case, alleging a serious violation of the Model Code of Conduct.   A day later, top party leaders led by L K Advani had personally met the Chief Election Commissioner to complain against the announcement.   The government had in a major announcement claimed the scheme as a game-changer, with Finance Minister P Chidamabaram and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh personally launching the scheme from the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.   After complaining to the EC, Advani had said that such announcements should not be made by a government once election dates have been declared.   “There has been announcement of direct cash transfer… The states where elections are due should have been excluded. They (government) could not have done it under the (election) code of conduct,” Advani had said.   Gujarat goes to polls in two phases on 13th and 17thDecember and the Model Code is in force in the state.