18% of candidates contesting in third phase of Lok Sabha polls face criminal cases: Analysis

Eighteen percent – 244 out of 1,352 – of the candidates contesting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections have criminal cases against them, the non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms said in a report on Monday.

The organisation analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,352 candidates contesting in 95 constituencies across 12 states. The third phase of the polls will be held on May 7.

The analysis showed that 172 candidates stand accused in serious criminal cases that attract a punishment of five years imprisonment or more. Of the 244 candidates with criminal cases, five have murder charges against them and 24 have declared cases related to attempt to murder.

A total of 38 candidates have been accused in cases related to crimes against women and two of them are accused in cases related to rape. Of the total, 17 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech.

Among the major parties, 22 of the 82 candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party and 26 of the Congress’ 68 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

All three candidates of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and four out of five candidates of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have been accused in criminal cases. Two out of three candidates of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and five out of 10 candidates from the Samajwadi Party also face criminal cases, as do one out of three candidates of the Janata Dal (United) and one out of six from the Trinamool Congress.

The Association For Democratic Reforms’ report said that 43 out of 95 constituencies going to polls in the third 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.

Wealth analysis

The report also showed that 392, or 29% of the 1,352 candidates, have declared assets worth over Rs 1 crore.

Of the total, 163 candidates have declared assets worth over Rs 5 crore, whereas 102 have declared assets worth between Rs 2 to Rs 5 crore.

All three candidates of the Janata Dal (United) and all five candidates of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) contesting in the third phase of polling have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

All three candidates from Ajit Pawar’s National Congress Party, all three candidates of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, both candidates from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and all three candidates of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) are also crorepatis.

Ninety-four percent of candidates fielded by the BJP and 88% of Congress’ candidates have assets worth over a crore. Nine out of 10 candidates from the Samajwadi Party and four out of Trinamool Congress’ six candidates were similarly wealthy.

The top three candidates with the highest declared assets are Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji.

Dempo, a BJP candidate from South Goa, has declared assets over over Rs 1,361 crore. Scindia, who is also a BJP candidate, will contest from Madhya Pradesh’s Guna. He has assets worth over Rs 424 crore. Shahaji from the Congress, who will contest from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, has assets worth over Rs 342 crore.

Of the total, 426 candidates said that they have assets worth less than Rs 10 lakh. Five candidates declared that they have no assets.

Independent candidate Irfan Abutalib Chand, who will contest against Shahaji from Kolhapur, has declared movable assets worth Rs 100.

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