—Audite Karim—

Internationally renowned lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain once said, “Elections have now become a game of crores of taka. For honest people, elections are not just difficult – they are impossible.”

Ahead of the upcoming national parliamentary election, I had hoped that this situation would come to an end – that honest and capable candidates, who may not possess vast amounts of unexplained wealth but genuinely want to work for the public good, would be able to contest elections.

But after examining the asset declarations submitted in candidates’ affidavits, it appears that nothing has changed in the “new Bangladesh.” Once again, the election will be a game for millionaires.

Being a millionaire or wealthy is not a crime. A person can become rich through intelligence, hard work, and innovation. Such individuals enrich the country’s economy and create employment opportunities.

But when someone suddenly becomes a millionaire overnight, when their entire lifestyle abruptly changes, they cannot

contribute anything meaningful to society or the state. They work solely for personal gain. Such people contest elections to become even wealthier and to protect their illicit assets by gaining power. From such individuals, public welfare cannot be expected.

In the first election of the new Bangladesh after the mass uprising, more than 50% of the candidates fall into this category of wealthy individuals. The highest number of millionaire candidates are from the BNP, followed by Jamaat-e-Islami.

The number of independent millionaire candidates is also significant. One independent candidate stated in his affidavit that he owns three apartments in Dubai – at the Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, and Marassa in the United Arab Emirates. Did he acquire this money through legal means? Over the past seven years, his cash assets have increased more than 27 times.

Less than a year after its formation, the National Citizen Party (NCP) is contesting the national election. Many of its candidates completed their education only one to one-and-a-half years ago and are participating in a national election for the first time.

Yet, the affidavits of many of these candidates reveal vast amounts of wealth. The party has four millionaire candidates.

In the upcoming national parliamentary election, 39 candidates – from various political parties and independents – have submitted nomination papers for five constituencies in Sunamganj.

Along with their nominations, they submitted affidavits detailing annual income, total assets, and educational qualifications.

A review of these affidavits shows that in every constituency there are multiple candidates whose assets exceed Tk1 crore. It can be said that Sunamganj is witnessing an abundance of millionaire candidates in this election.

In Dhaka district and metropolitan area, Jamaat-e-Islami has fielded candidates in 17 of the 20 constituencies. Of these 17 candidates, 13 are millionaires. BNP candidates possess the highest amount of wealth overall. In Dhaka alone, the BNP has 11 millionaire candidates.

In the Chattogram constituencies, most BNP- and Jamaat-nominated candidates possess assets worth several crores of taka. In this “competition” of wealth, the BNP is ahead, with 16 millionaire candidates, compared to 12 from Jamaat. Many candidates have assets ranging from several crores to more than Tk1,000 crore.

An analysis of affidavits submitted by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami candidates in six constituencies of Rajshahi reveals widespread financial inconsistencies. Major discrepancies are evident between declared income, assets, cash, land, and gold values and their actual market prices.

According to affidavit data, most BNP candidates have assets exceeding one crore taka. While most Jamaat candidates are lakhpatis, there are also millionaire candidates among them in several constituencies.

In the case of candidates from both parties, various inconsistencies have been observed, including declaring land, flats, and gold at abnormally low values. In multiple cases, candidates’ wives – listed as homemakers or having no source of income – are shown to own assets worth crores of taka.

Last year, Bangladesh’s economic condition was far from good. Poverty increased due to stagnation in new job creation and widening income inequality, emerging as a major challenge for the economy.

According to a new estimate by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), the poverty rate in Bangladesh rose sharply to 27.93%, up from 18.7% in 2022. People struggled to survive during the past year. Yet, even amid this dire economic situation, some individuals prospered enormously.

During this period, 9,000 new millionaire depositors were created in the country. Bangladesh Bank’s latest report reveals even more startling information: within a single year, over Tk55,600 crore in new deposits were added to the accounts of millionaires.

While the middle class is breaking its savings, the poor are sinking into debt, and businesses are cutting back on investment – who is accumulating such vast sums of money, and why?

According to Bangladesh Bank data, in September last year, the number of millionaire depositors stood at 119,154. By September this year, the number had risen to 128,070. An increase of nearly 7.5% in the number of millionaire depositors during an economic collapse is, according to experts, “not normal market behavior.”

The number of depositors holding more than Tk50 crore was 1,800 last year and 1,947 this year. The question is being raised even within the banking sector: how did these 147 new ultra-rich individuals manage to deposit Tk50 crore or more during this period? Not only has their number increased – the total amount in their accounts has grown by Tk21,000 crore.

So what has really changed? One of the core aspirations of the July 2024 “revolution” was to build a corruption-free Bangladesh and establish transparency and accountability in the economy.

But the dominance of millionaire candidates in elections, along with the growth in the number of millionaire bank account holders amid an economic crisis, confronts us with a fundamental question: has anything truly changed, or have only the people changed?

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Audite Karim is a writer and playwright. Email: [email protected]