The number of candidates in the first phase of upazila election with moveable or liquid assets of at least Tk 1 crore each has more than doubled in five years, found Transparency International Bangladesh in a recent report.
TIB revealed the numbers while releasing a report analysing the affidavits submitted to the Election Commission by the candidates in 144 upazilas.
A total of 117 candidates -- 94 for chairman posts, 17 for vice-chairman posts, and six for vice-chairman posts reserved for women -- for the first phase of this year's polls have moveable assets worth at least Tk 1 crore, according to the report.
In the 2019 polls, in the same upazilas, 45 candidates possessed moveable or liquid assets worth Tk 1 crore or more, and the number was 34 in the 2014 polls.
The number of businesspeople contesting the polls is also on the rise.
Fifty-six percent of candidates for chairman, vice-chairman and for vice-chairman posts reserved for women in the first phase of the upazila polls are businesspeople, according to the report.
Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, a TIB director, said the number of businesspeople contesting polls to the same upazilas in 2019 was 53 percent.
The number was 48 percent in the 2014 polls.
The report said there were 1,723 candidates in the 2014 polls, 1,467 candidates in the 2019 polls, and 1,606 candidates this year.
TIB said businesspeople made up 70 percent of chairman candidates for the first phase of this year's upazila polls, 69 percent vice-chairman candidates and 24 percent candidates for the vice-chairman posts reserved for women.
