At a press conference held on Saturday at the National Press Club in Dhaka, the civic group Citizens for Good Governance (Sujon) revealed that 832 candidates in Bangladesh’s 13th National Parliamentary Election have annual incomes below 500,000 taka, representing about 41 percent of the total 2,026 candidates. The findings were based on an analysis of affidavits submitted to the Election Commission.

Sujon’s data further showed that 95 candidates reported annual incomes exceeding 10 million taka, while 741 earn between 500,000 and 2.5 million taka. Another 132 candidates earn between 2.5 and 5 million taka, and 71 between 5 and 10 million taka. A total of 155 candidates did not fill in their income information. Among those earning over 10 million taka annually, 51 are from the BNP, 25 are independents, and five are from the Jatiya Party.

The analysis also indicated a slight decline in both high- and low-income candidates compared with the previous election, where 8.77 percent earned over 10 million taka and 45 percent earned under 500,000 taka. This year, those figures stand at 4.59 percent and 41 percent respectively.