A new report has come out regarding the financial condition of the candidates before the 2026 assembly elections in West Bengal, which has exposed the increasing influence of money in electoral politics. According to the analysis of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an organization that monitors election transparency, many candidates own properties worth crores.
TMC leaders have the most names in the list
The special thing is that most of the names in this list are of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. However, candidates from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties are also included in it. According to the report, the name of TMC MLA from Jangipur in Murshidabad district, Zakir Hussain, is on top as the richest candidate. The total assets declared by him are more than Rs 67 crore. This includes movable property worth about Rs 49.3 crore and immovable property worth about Rs 17.9 crore. With this figure, he has emerged as the most prosperous candidate in this election.
In second place is TMC’s Ahmed Javed Khan from Kasba seat of South 24 Parganas, whose total assets are said to be around Rs 32 crore. At the third place is Vivek Gupta, MLA from Jorasanko, Kolkata, whose assets are around Rs 31.9 crore. His assets include Rs 23.1 crore as movable assets and Rs 8.9 crore as immovable assets.
Many other candidates included in this list
Apart from this, many other candidates are included in this list, which includes leaders of different parties. However, TMC’s dominance is clearly visible in the top 10 richest candidates. Many TMC candidates contesting from seats like Durgapur East, Howrah South, Hansan and Maheshtala have also made it to this list, which indicates the strong financial condition of the party.
This report also indicates that the role of money in electoral politics is continuously increasing. It is clear from these figures prepared on the basis of affidavits filed by the candidates that the number of candidates having huge assets is not less. Voting in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, while counting of votes will be done on May 4. Now it will be important to see to what extent the economic strength of the candidates affects the election results.
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