- Six out of the ten West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 candidates with the highest incomes are either fighting from Paschim (west) Medinipur and Purba (east) Medinipur.
- This includes candidates like the Tollywood star Soham Chakraborty and heavy weight Manas Ranjan Bhunia.
- Purba Medinipur comes under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj’s list of the country’s 250 most backward districts in all of India.
Medinipur is one of the most backward districts in West Bengal. Yet, the politicians fighting from Paschim (west) Medinipur and Purba (east) Medinipur have the highest incomes.
Among all the candidates up for polls in the second phase of state assembly election on April 1, six are from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), three are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one is from the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) according to data provided by the Association for Democratic Reforms (
ADR).
Paschim Medinipur mostly consists of cultivators and agricultural labourers. At the same time, it is a regular victim of frequent floods and droughts. For a district that deals in agriculture, this puts a strain on the livelihood of the people living there. Moreover, even though there is no coastline in the region, it is heavily affected by cyclones between the months of October and November and untimely rains between April and May.
Purba Medinipur, on the other hand, is a combination of agriculture, industry and tourism. Yet, it comes under the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj’s list of the country’s 250 most backward districts. Purba Medinipur is one of the 11 districts in West Bengal receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
Despite the many resources available in the district, the lack of adequate infrastructure — both physical and social — has been a pain point in serving its vast rural population.
So, for the candidates contending in these areas, there is a complex web of issues to address.
This list is based on annual income for the last/current financial year disclosed by the candidate. The value of assets they own— either in term cash or any other property— may be different either because they bought it earlier or inherited. You can read about the
richest candidates (by assets) here.
For now, let's take a quick look at the top ten candidates with the highest incomes in West Bengal ahead of the polls: