Surat: All political parties have announced the names of their candidates for the upcoming municipal corporations' elections in the state. All parties have begun campaigning for the victory of their candidates. Many of the candidates of all political parties come from different background, some of them millionaires, some having a criminal record and some illiterate.
Candidates from the Western Ahmedabad wards are financially strong with seven of the ten candidates of both the BJP and Congress and three candidates from the Eastern Ahmedabad wards being rich.
Congress candidate from city’s Makarpura area Samir Pathan owns company shares worth Rs 16 crore and land valued at Rs 14 crore.
Three BJP candidates and one Congress nominee face serious criminal cases of attempt to murder.
A notable fact is that candidates of both the parties have invested not only in land but also in stocks, gold and silver. BJP candidate from the Stadium ward Pradeep Dave and Paldi ward candidate Pritish Mehta own more than one kg of gold.
According to the affidavit filed by them more than ten per cent of candidates of both the BJP and Congress own a fleet of such luxury foreign cars like Mercedes Benz and BMW.
More than ten per cent of candidates of both the BJP and Congress have completed schooling only till tenth class. Congress nominee from Amraiwadi locality Parvatiben Parmar is the least qualified person having studied only up to the third standard. There are more than four candidates who have passed the seventh class.
Four candidates have declared in their affidavit that they own licenced revolver. BJP’s Hitesh Barot of Thaltej ward, Prakash Barot of Bapunagar, Mahadev Desai of Saijpur and Bharat Patel of Shahibag have deposited their licenced weapons with the police as required after the elections were declared.
In Surat, 12 candidates of BJP and 7 of Congress are millionaires
There are 12 candidates of BJP and seven of Congress in Surat who have declared themselves millionaires in their affidavit. Many candidates from both parties had only done schooling. Many BJP nominees are millionaires and some have not studied even up to the graduation. The richest among BJP candidates is Dipen Desai, who is a builder and secretary of CREDAI. He is a diploma in civil engineering. On the other hand, though he is a millionaire, Sanjay Dalal has studied up to only eighth class. BJP’s Patel, who owns 22 vehicles, has studied only up to the ninth class. From the BJP, Dipen Desai has declared his property valued at Rs 20 crore, Paresh Patel as Rs 9 crore, Kishore Mayani as 1.10 crore and Ajit Patel as 2.93 crores. Ajit Patel and his family own a fleet of 22 cars and has declared the value of his property as Rs 3 crore. However, he has studied only up to the ninth class.
There are millionaire candidates also in Congress. They include Dhansukh Patel, Rs 12.55 core, who represents Uttar Pradesh in Surat, DP Vekaria, Rs 4 crore, Girish Patel, Rs 2 crore and Dinesh Kachhadia, Rs 1.50 crore.
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Candidates of both the parties have filed their nomination papers for the election of Surat municipal corporation.
A definite educational qualification is required for any job from that of a peon to a clerk. But there is no qualification needed in politics. Even an illiterate person can occupy the highest political position. However, the tragedy of a world-class smart city of Surat is that it is run by 120 city corporators out of who as many as 65 have not even passed high school.
Among the BJP’s candidates, there are as many as 31 nominees who have not even passed the tenth class. In Congress, there are 33 such candidates. In BJP, there are 26 candidates who have passed only up to the tenth class and in Congress, there are 27 candidates who have given up education after the tenth class. Those who have passed the 12th class and given up studies thereafter include 15 candidates of the BJP and 19 of the Congress. BJP has given tickets to 17 graduates, 12 lawyers, 3 engineers and 3 doctors. The Congress has fielded 8 graduates, 12 lawyers, and 6 engineers. One BJP candidate has got a master’s degree in political science. Thus both the parties have competed in giving tickets equally to the less educated as well as highly qualified persons for contesting the municipal corporation election.
In Rajkot, 22 of BJP’s 72 candidates are millionaires. The richest among them is Pushkar Patel who has declared property valued at Rs 14.55 crore. He is followed by Nehal Shukla Rs 11.22 crore, Nilesh Jalu Rs 7.49 crore, Devang Mankad Rs 2.11 crore, Surendrasinh Vala Rs 2,32 crore, Vajuben Goltar Rs 1.05 crore, Dilip Lunagariya Rs 1.39 crore, Ashwin Pambhar Rs 6.09 crore, Bipin Bera Rs 7.23 crore, Dr Darshana Pandya Rs 4.29 crore, Pritiben Doshi Rs 1.11 crore, Varshaben Pandhi Rs 1.29 crore, Jayaben Dangar Rs 1.31 crore, Ketan Thummare Rs 1.27 crore and Vinu Sorathiya Rs 1.32 crore.
There are different criminal cases registered with the police against 10 of the BJP’s 72 candidates. A case of causing damage to the public property has been registered against Jitu Kotadia and Devang Mankad while cases under Section 307 of the IPC have been registered against Nehal Shukla, Surendrasinh Vala and Nilesh Jalu and for possession of contraband weapons against Kalu Kungashia. Cases of violent clash, atrocities against scheduled caste and possession of illegal weapons have been registered against Paresh Pipalia.
Of the 72 candidates fielded by BJP, five are doctors, four with master’s degree, three with PhD, and one civil engineer. At the extreme is also a candidate who has studied only up to the second class. As many as 40 of the total 72 candidates have never attended college and 18 are non-matriculate. The youngest woman candidate is of 26 years while the oldest is a 59-year-old person.
Though all political parties claim to give tickets to persons with no record of serious crimes against them, in reality, both parties fielded candidates with a criminal background as well.
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