Citizens for Good Governance – Sujan has claimed that the nominations of almost half of the 2,026 candidates contesting the 13th National Parliament elections are incomplete as they have not submitted copies of their income tax returns. They say that although 1,319 candidates have paid their income taxes, the majority of them, namely 167 BNP candidates , are borrowers, which is 32.17 percent of the total borrowers. The organization presented this information at a press conference titled ‘Presentation of information of candidates contesting the elections’ at the Jahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall of the National Press Club on Saturday. bdnews24.com reports.
Presenting the information on loan-bearing candidates at the press conference, Sujan’s central coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar said that out of a total of 2,026 candidates, 519 are loan-bearing candidates , which is 25.62 percent. Of these, 75 candidates have taken loans of more than Tk 5 crore. BNP is at the top in the number of loan-bearing candidates. 167 of the party’s candidates are loan-bearing candidates , which is 32.17 percent of the total loan-bearing candidates. Compared to the 12th National Parliament election, the rate of loan-bearing candidates has decreased slightly in this election. In the previous election, this rate was 22.83 percent , which has decreased to 20.93 percent this time. Sujan’s analysis shows that about 41 percent of the total candidates have an annual income of less than Tk 5 lakh. That is 832 in number. On the other hand , the number of candidates with an income of more than Tk 1 crore is 95.
Central Coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar said that among the political parties , Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) is leading in the number of candidates who have paid income tax . Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is in second place in this list and independent candidates are in third place. In addition, 132 candidates have only submitted TIN certificates , but have not filed income tax returns.
He said , out of 1,319 candidates who paid income tax, 479 , or 36.32 percent, paid income tax of Tk 5,000 or less. 358 ( 27.14 percent ) paid income tax of more than Tk 1 lakh and 116 (5.72 percent) paid tax of more than Tk 1 million , which is 741 candidates’ income between Tk 5 lakh and 25 lakh. 132 candidates earned between Tk 25 and 50 lakh and 71 candidates earned between Tk 50 lakh and 1 crore. In addition, 155 candidates did not mention income information in their affidavits.