Former IPS officer and BJP’s candidate from Debra, Bharati Ghosh, is the richest among candidates in fray in the second phase of Bengal polls, says a report released by the West Bengal Election Watch, a civil society group.

Ghosh has declared assets worth more than Rs 19.21 crore.

She is closely followed by another BJP candidate Dipankar Jana of Kakdwip, who has declared assets worth over Rs 14.41 crore.

Ghosh, once known for her proximity to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, switched to the BJP in February 2019. She was fielded by BJP from Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency the same year but lost to Trinamul candidate and film actor Deepak Adhikari a.k.a Dev.

In her 2019 affidavit, Ghosh had declared assets worth a little above Rs 18.01 crore.

In the last two years, her assets have increased by more than Rs 1 crore.

The Bengal CID had registered cases against Ghosh and her aides by slapping charges of extortion and that of exchanging banned currency notes for gold, against her.

The state investigating agency had also filed a charge sheet against Ghosh, her husband M.A.V. Raju and seven others. Raju was also arrested in the case and later released on bail.

The average assets of the 30 BJP candidates, who will contest polls in the second phase, is Rs 2.31 crore. The corresponding figure for 30 Trinamul candidates is Rs 1.79 crore.

However, of all the candidates the person with the lowest declared assets is also a BJP candidate. Nirmal Kumar Dhara, the BJP’s candidate for Indus has total assets worth merely Rs 1,700.

West Bengal Election Watch has also analysed 171 candidates who have filed nominations for the second phase of polls. The BJP tops the list of parties with criminal cases in terms of percentage.

At least 17 (57 per cent) out of 30 BJP candidates have declared criminal cases against them, while 16 of these candidates are named in serious criminal cases. For Trinamul, the corresponding number is eight (27 per cent).