321 candidates running in India’s elections have criminal cases

0

NEW DELHI, April 19 (Bernama) — 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