New Delhi : 252 candidates accused in criminal cases in the first round of voting! BJP tops in numbers, Lalu’s party is top in percentage. According to ADR’s report, 16 percent of the candidates in the first phase of the 102 Lok Sabha constituencies that went for polled on April 19 have various criminal cases against them. When campaigned for one such Lok Sabha poll a decade ago, BJP’s then ‘prime ministerial candidate’ Narendra Modi had promised to drag MPs and MLAs accused of serious criminal offenses to special courts if he came to power. Convicts will be sent to jail within one year. His picture just before his 10th year completion in the chair in Delhi says that the situation has not changed at all!
According to a report by poll watchdogs ‘National Election Watch’ and “Association of Democratic Reforms'(ADR), 16 percent of the candidates in the 102 Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 in 21 states and union territories have various criminal cases against them. National Election Watch and ADR has examined the affidavits submitted with the nominations of 1,618 of the 1,625 candidates in the first phase of polling, they found, 252 criminal cases have been reported among them.
According to the report published by ADR, 161 out of 252 candidates (i.e. 10 percent of the total candidates) have serious criminal cases against them. Of these, 7 candidates were accused of murder, 18 were accused of crimes against women including rape and 35 were accused of hate speech.
According to report, BJP has the highest number of candidates accused in criminal cases by party, which is 28 out of 77 people, that is 36 percent. Next is Congress. Of their 56 candidates, 19, means 34 per cent, declared in affidavits that they had been accused in criminal cases. But RJD is number one in terms of percentage. Each of the four candidates of Lalu Prasad’s party in the first round of voting in Bihar, ie 100 percent, are accused in various criminal cases! In terms of percentage, DMK (59 percent), Samajwadi Party (43 percent), Trinamool (40 percent) are in the next three positions.
