Thanks for the enormous interest you have shown in visiting our site and carrying the message forward.

Here is Mr. Yeddiyurappa (CM of Karnataka)’s email and fax nubmers. Also the text of the message we sent from Karnataka Election Watch regarding formation of the Ministry without MLAs having criminal records. Please send him emails/faxes on this subject- else some people with murder and other serious cases might end up in the State Cabinet. The list is enclosed for your ready reference.

Email: bsy@vijayeekarnataka.com
Thanks.
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Dear Mr. Yeddiyurappa,

Congratulations on your victory in the Karnataka Elections. We hope your Government will be able to provide good governance. We from Karnataka Election Watch are enclosing a list of 25 elected MLAs with criminal records from the BJP, including three with murder or attempt to murder cases against them. We expect that you will not include such people in your Ministry. The media and NGOs around the State have already given wide publicity to this.
Details of the criminal records
Namskaara.

In the 69 Assembly constituencies going to the polls on May 22, 2008 in Phase 3 there are 36
candidates with a criminal record. A full list of the candidates is enclosed. Among the major
parties, the BJP has 12 candidates having a criminal record, INC 6, JDS 7, and other parties 11.
There are 5 candidates who are charged with murder or attempt to murder. Several of them are
charged with other violent crimes like assault with deadly weapons and so on.
Women Candidates
There are only 23 women candidates out of a total of 415 candidates considered by Karnataka
Election Watch. The BJP has 2, BSP 3, INC 3, JDS 6, JDU 6 and others 3. In the first phase there
were a total of 17 women, and 14 women candidates in the second phase from the major parties.
The total percentage of women in phase 3 is about 5.5% and is extremely low.
Financial Record
The total assets declared by all the 415 candidates considered by KEW for phase 3 was an
impressive Rs.650 crores, with average candidate assets of Rs.1.57 crores. The INC led the
parties with total declared candidate assets of Rs.347 crores and average candidate assets of
Rs.5.03 crores. The BJP had total assets of Rs.155 crores and average of Rs.2.26 crores, JDS
Rs.84 crores and Rs.1.22 crores, and BSP Rs.35 crores and Rs.0.52 crores.

the three major parties account for 89.2% of total candidate assets with
average candidate assets of Rs.2.83 crores. Clearly, elections have become a rich man’s game. It
is very difficult for Independent candidates to win and the major parties give tickets to candidates
with very high level of assets. Then there are 24 candidates who have “High Assets” over Rs. 5
crores. The BJP has 8, INC 13, JDS 2, and BSP 1. Details are enclosed. There are 41 candidates
who have declared very low assets of Rs. 1 lakh or less.
The total liabilities of all candidates were Rs.75.19 crores. The BJP candidates had liabilities of
Rs.15.79 crores, INC Rs.37.22 crores, JDS Rs.13.97 crores, and others Rs.8.21 crores. The
average liability of the candidates from the three parties was Rs.32 lakhs.
Assembly Elections 2008 Phase 3 Compiled by Karnataka Election Watch and ADR
In summary, the three major parties (BJP, INC, JDS) have 49.9% of all candidates. These
candidates have 90.2% of assets of all candidates from all parties put together. Their average
assets are 180% of the average assets of all candidates. Their average liabilities are 178.6% of
that of all candidates.

Comparing Financial Record with 2004 Data
As many as 69 candidates reported a very steep increase in total assets between the 2004
Assembly Elections and this election. The average increase in assets was a huge 339.5%.

Criminal Records
There are 36 candidates with a criminal record. Among the major parties, the BJP has 12
candidates having a criminal record, INC 6, JDS 7, and other parties 11. There are 5 candidates
who are charged with murder or attempt to murder. Several of them are charged with other
violent crimes like assault with deadly weapons and so on. The following table gives details of
the serious crimes.

Changes in Criminal records
There are at least 22 candidates whose criminal record has changed since 2004. The details are
given in the enclosures. Of this, there are 7 from the BJP, 8 from the INC, 5 from the JDS and 2
from other parties. This needs to be investigated by the authorities.

Conclusions
The overall quality of candidates leaves much to be desired. The criminal records in particular are
a little alarming. Unless this trend is checked, elections, democracy and overall governance will
suffer. A lot of candidates are industrialists from the real estate, liquor, mining and other
businesses. Unless business interests are aligned to citizen interests there is a clear conflict of
interest. Would such representatives work for citizens’ interests or for their business interests?
The average assets of candidates from the major parties were Rs.2.84 crores. A lot of candidates
have reported huge increase in their assets from the previous elections. This means that elections
are mostly open to the rich and that the stakes are very high and rising from election to election.
The steep rise in assets also needs to be investigated so that public trust is restored.

Detailed report now available at

About KEW
Karnataka Election Watch (KEW) is part of a nationwide movement to improve democracy. It is a
citizen led non-political, non-partisan effort. This time several NGOs activists and civil society
organizations in Karnataka are participating in this effort.

Disclaimer:
All information about candidates has been taken from the affidavits filed by candidates with their
nomination papers. While all efforts have been made to ensure that the information in this report
is correct, in case of any discrepancy, the information from the nomination papers should be
treated as correct. Neither ADR nor KEW nor their volunteers are responsible or liable for any
damage arising directly or indirectly from the release of this report.

Comparing Financial Record with 2004 Data
As many as 74 candidates reported a very steep increase in total assets between the 2004
Assembly Elections and this election. The average increase in assets was a huge 465.6%.

Criminal Records
There are 49 candidates with a criminal record. Among the major parties, the BJP has 13
candidates having a criminal record, BSP has 7, the Congress 9, JDS 8, and other parties 12.
There are 6 candidates who are charged with murder or attempt to murder. Several of them are
charged with other violent crimes like assault with deadly weapons and so on.
As can be seen, these three parties have not shown any significant decline in the percentage of
candidates with criminal records. The criminal charges include murder, attempt to murder,
criminal intimidation and death threats, grievous injury with deadly weapons, forgery and
cheating. There are at least 6 candidates from the major parties with murder or attempt to murder
cases against them. The cynical cycle of putting up such candidates continues.
Changes in Criminal records
There are at least 29 candidates whose criminal record has changed since 2004. The details are
given in the enclosures. Of this, there are 13 from the BJP, 7 from the INC, 5 from the JDS and 4
from other parties. This needs to be investigated by the authorities.
Education and Age of Candidates
Of the 372 candidates considered in Phase 2, 31 has post graduate degrees, 26 had technical
degrees (like BE etc), 6 MBBS, 47 LLB, 97 graduates, 48 PUC, 49 matriculates, 35 non
matriculates. The rest did no mention their educational qualifications. The number of candidates
who were 60 years old or more was 41, between 45 and 60 was 171, and less than 45 was 160.
Conclusions
The overall quality of candidates leaves much to be desired. The criminal records in particular are
a little alarming. Unless this trend is checked, elections, democracy and overall governance will
suffer. A lot of candidates are industrialists from the real estate, liquor, mining and other
businesses. Unless business interests are aligned to citizen interests this raises interesting
questions about governance and democracy. The average assets of candidates from the major
parties was Rs.4.18 crores which means that the parties have turned their back on candidates with
low assets. A lot of candidates have reported huge increase in their assets. This also needs to be
investigated so that public trust is restored.
Karnataka Election Watch (KEW) is part of a nationwide movement to improve democracy. It is a
citizen led non-political, non-partisan effort. This time several NGOs activists and civil society
organizations in Karnataka are participating in this effort.
All information about candidates has been taken from the affidavits filed by candidates with their
nomination papers. While all efforts have been made to ensure that the information in this report
is correct, in case of any discrepancy, the information from the nomination papers should be
treated as correct. Neither ADR nor KEW nor their volunteers are responsible or liable for any
damage arising directly or indirectly from the release of this report.

Click to view the detailed report available here.

The press release containing the Analysis of Candidate details for Phase 2 will be held at the Press Club, Bangalore on the Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM.

Request all the media and interested citizens to join us.

Karnataka Election Watch.

http://tinyurl.com/6n7ng5

For any further details/updated excel files, feel free to contact kew2008@gmail.com

Today we had the first press conference to provide the “Phase I – Candidate Criminal and Financial Records”. This event was attended by the leading Print and TV media representatives and following is the the press release.

Our analysis of candidates and other details about Election will be posted in this blog.

Kindly feel free to distribute it to the electorate.

Happy voting.

Karnataka Elections 2008 – Phase 1

Candidate Criminal and Financial Record

Karnataka Election Watch 2008

Law makers are now law breakers. In the 89 Assembly constituencies going to the polls on May10, 2008 in Phase 1, there are 49 candidates with a criminal record. A full list of the candidates is enclosed. Among the three major parties, the BJP heads the list with 12 candidates having a criminal record, BSP has 9, the Congress 10, JDS 14, JDU 1, KCVP 1, and SP 2. Several of them are charged with violent crime like murder, attempt to murder, assault with deadly weapons and so on. There are other issues that would be of wider public interest. This note is divided into the following sections.

Women Candidates

A total of 17 women from the major parties have got tickets. The BJP has 5, BSP 2, INC 6, JDS 1 and SP 3. Though one of major parties had given a public assurance to field 33% women candidates, they have not done so. The total percentage of women is less than 5%

Financial Record

There are 14 candidates who have declared assets of over Rs.30 crores – which we classify as “Very High”. Of this 5 are from the BJP, 7 from the Congress and 2 from the JDS. This represents a very steep increase in the number of such candidates from the 2004 assembly elections. Some have declared assets well over Rs. 100 crores.

Then there are candidates who have “High Assets” between Rs. 5 crores and Rs. 30 crores. The BJP has 14, BSP 9, INC 21, JDS 19. In spite of having such high assets, some of them have not declared their IT Pan numbers as required by the Election Commission. Details are enclosed.

There are 33 candidates who have declared very low assets of Rs. 1 lakh or less. The BJP has 1, BSP 11, INC 2, JDS 2, JDU 5, SP 12.

Comparing Financial Record with 2004 Data

As many as 82 candidates reported a very steep increase in total assets between the 2004 Assembly Elections and this election. The average increase in assets was a huge 677%. The following table gives the summary and the details are enclosed.

Criminal Records

A total of 49 candidates with criminal records are contesting the Phase 1 elections. Among the three major parties, the BJP heads the list with 12 candidates having a criminal record, BSP has 9, the Congress 10, JDS 14, JDU 1, KCVP 1, and SP 2. The party wise break up is given below fir the BJP, INC and the JDS compared to the 2004 elections.

Note: Phase 1 this time has 89 constituencies. In 2004 it had 120 constituencies.

As can be seen these three parties have shown a decline in the percentage of candidates with criminal records. The criminal charges include murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and death threats, grievous injury with deadly weapons, forgery and cheating. There are at least 8 candidates from the major parties with murder or attempt to murder cases against them. The cynical cycle of putting up such candidates continues.

Income Tax Pan Numbers

Several candidates from the major parties have not declared their Pan numbers even though the affidavits they submit to the Returning Officers requires them to do so. The BJP has 40 such candidates. The BSP has 62, INC 42, JDS 44, and JDU 16, KVCP 1, SP 35. Several of them have declared assets well in excess of Rs. 5 crores.

Changes in Criminal records

There are at least 33 candidates whose criminal record has changed since 2004. The details are given in the enclosures. This needs to be investigated by the authorities.

Conclusions

The overall quality of candidates leaves much to be desired. The criminal records in particular are a little alarming. Unless this trend is checked, elections, democracy and overall governance will suffer. A lot of candidates are industrialists from the real estate, liquor, mining and other businesses. Unless business interests are aligned to citizen interests this raises interesting questions about governance and democracy. A lot of candidates have reported huge increase in their assets. This also needs to be investigated so that public trust is restored.

Karnataka Election Watch (KEW) is part of a nationwide movement to improve democracy. It is a citizen led non-political, non-partisan effort. This time several NGOs activists and civil society organizations in Karnataka are participating in this effort

Come join and participate