NEW DELHI, April 19 – A total of 321 out of 2,071 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections on April 24 have criminal cases against them, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
The candidates from 117 seats are running in the six phase of the nationwide elections.
“Out of 2,071 candidates analysed, 321 or 15 percent have criminal cases against them. Of this, 204 have serious criminal cases including those related to murder, attempted murder, robbery and others,” said a report by the National Election Watch (NEW) and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The candidates made their declaration of criminal cases in self-sworn affidavits provided to the Election Commission.
Candidates with criminal cases are 30 from the Congress, 20 from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 13 from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 27 from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and 76 independents.
Udayakumar S P of AAP from Kanniyakumari constituency, Tamil Nadu has declared 382 criminal cases and M Pushparayan from Thoothukkudi constituency from the same party has 380 cases.
Two AAP candidates have declared more than 350 criminal cases registered against them.
Mu Anbhalagan of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from Tiruchirappalli constituency has 10 criminal cases.
The report found eleven candidates have declared cases related to murder and 40 have cases of attempted murder.
Thirteen candidates have declared cases related to causing enmity among different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language and committing acts prejudicial to harmony.
The report also revealed twelve candidates have cases related to crime against women.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, a candidate from Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation in Purnia constituency, Bihar, has a case involving buying minors for purposes of prostitution.
The report also analysed the financial, education and various other information concerning candidates.
–BERNAMA
