A total of 250, or 21%, of the 1,192 candidates contesting in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections have criminal cases against them, non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms said in a report on Tuesday.
The organisation analysed the self-sworn affidavits filed by 1,192 out of the 1,198 candidates who are contesting in the second phase of the polls on April 26, in 13 states.
A report based on the analysis showed that Bharatiya Janata Party candidates K Surendran and Dr KS Radhakrishnan have the most number of criminal cases against them.
Surendran, who will contest the elections from Kerala’s Wayanad against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has 243 cases against him, of which 139 are serious offences. Radhakrishnan, the BJP’s candidate from the state’s Ernakulam constituency, has 211 criminal cases and five of them are serious.
The organisation categorises “serious offences” as those carrying a punishment of five years or more.
The third name on the list is Congress’ Idukki candidate Dean Kuriakose, who has 88 cases against him, of which 23 are serious.
Of the total 1,192 candidates whose affidavits were analysed, 167, or 14%, have serious offences registered against them.
Of the 250 candidates with criminal cases, 32 have declared cases where they have been convicted. Three candidates have declared cases related to murder, whereas 24 have declared attempt to murder cases.
A total of 28 candidates have been accused in cases related to crimes against women and one of them has also declared a case related to rape. Of the total, 21 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech.
Among the major parties, 31, or 45%, of the 69 candidates from the BJP and 35, or 51%, of Congress’ 68 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
All five candidates of the Communist Party of India and all four candidates of the Samajwadi Party contesting in the second phase also have criminal cases against them. The Janata Dal (United) has fielded two candidates, out of its total five, who have been accused in criminal cases.
The number stands at 14 out of 18 candidates for the Communist Party of India (Marxist), two out of three for Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and two out of four for Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
The Association For Democratic Reforms also said that 45, or 52%, out of 87 constituencies going to polls in the second phase are “red alert” constituencies. A constituency is classified as “red alert” if three or more candidates contesting there have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Assets analysis
The election watchdog’s report also included analyses of the share of wealth among the candidates and showed that 390, or 33% of the 1,192 candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
Of them, 140, or 12% of the candidates have assets worth over Rs 5 crore, whereas 112, or 9%, have assets worth between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore.
All five candidates from the Janata Dal (United), all four Trinamool Congress candidates and all four of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidates contesting in the second phase of polling have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
Additionally, all four candidates from the Samajwadi Party and all three candidates from Shinde’s Shiv Sena group are also crorepatis.
A total of 64, or 93% of 69 candidates from the BJP and 62, or 91%, of Congress candidates have also declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
Of all the candidates contesting in the second phase, 353, or 30%, have said that they have assets worth less than Rs 10 lakh. There are six candidates who have declared that they have no assets.
The candidate with the most assets, worth over Rs 622 crore, is Congress’ Venkataramane Gowda who is contesting from Karnataka’s Mandya. He is followed by DK Suresh from Bangalore Rural, also a Congress candidate, with assets worth over Rs 593 crore.
Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini, who has been fielded once again from Mathura by the BJP, is third on the list with assets worth over Rs 278 crore.
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