Among the contestants in the 12 February national election, the highest number of debt-ridden candidates, 91, are from BNP.
Following them, the second-highest number, 36 debt-ridden candidates, have submitted their nomination papers to contest on Jamaat-e-Islami tickets.
Jatiya Party has 26 candidates with debts, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh also has 23 candidates facing similar situations.
However, according to the records of income tax returns submitted to Election Commission, although BNP has the highest number of candidates with more debt than income, in proportional terms, Jatiya Party has surpassed BNP.
In terms of candidates with more debt than income, Islami Andolan Bangladesh ranks ahead of Jamaat-e-Islami. After reviewing the affidavits of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election, it has been found that there are at least 20 candidates with debts in several parties. The information was obtained by reviewing the data of candidates from these parties.
Among BNP’s 91 debt-ridden candidates, 69 have more debt than income, which constitutes 75.82 percent of the total debt-ridden candidates in the party.
Out of Jamaat’s 36 debt-ridden candidates, 23 have more debt than income, making up 63.8 percent of the party’s total debt-ridden candidates.
The Jatiya Party has 26 debt-ridden candidates, with 20 of them, or 76.92 percent, having more debt than income. Among the 23 debt-ridden candidates of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, 17 have more debt than income, which is 73.91 percent of the party’s total debt-ridden candidates.
Additionally, Gano Odhikar Parishad has five debt-ridden candidates, three of whom have more debt than income.
Of the six debt-ridden candidates from the AB Party, three have more debt than income. In Nagarik Oikya, among three debt-ridden candidates, two have more debt than income.
All three debt-ridden candidates from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish have more debt than income, while six out of ten candidates from Khelafat Majlish have more debt than income.
However, according to the analysis of the affidavits submitted to Election Commission by those intending to contest from NCP, only four debt-ridden candidates were found, with only one of them having more debt than income.
The data shows that the highest amounts of debt are found among candidates from Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. At least six BNP candidates have declared debts amounting to over Tk100 crore, which is a hundred times greater than their annual income.
While most candidates from other parties have smaller amounts of debt, for these candidates, the debt is between ten to a hundred times higher than their income.
