New Delhi: As many as 253 (14 percent) candidates in the fray in Gujarat Assembly elections have declared criminal cases against them, with three candidates facing charges related to murder, 17 related to attempt to murder, and four related to rape, an ADR-Gujarat Election Watch report said on Monday.
Congress has the most number of candidates with criminal cases against them. AFP
The non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), along with Gujarat Election Watch, has prepared the report by analysing information furnished by 1,815 of the 1,828 candidates.
In the 2012 Gujarat elections, out of 1,283 candidates analysed, 222 (17 percent) had criminal cases declared against them, the report said.
"As many as 154 (8 percent) candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including ones related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women. In the 2012 assembly elections in Gujarat, 92 (7 percent) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves," it said.
It said that seven candidates have declared cases related to kidnapping.
Among the major parties, 46 (25 percent) out of 181 candidates are from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), while 56 (32 percent) out of 176 candidates are from Congress, 17 (12 percent) out of 138 candidates are from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 9 (16 percent) are out of 57 candidates from Nationalist Congress Party, 4 (14 percent) out of 28 candidates from Aam Aadmi Party, and 65 (8 percent) out of 791 Independent candidates analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Out of the 1,815 candidates, 418 (23 percent) are multi-millionaires, and among the major parties, 147 (81 percent) out of 181 candidates are from BJP, 129 (73 percent) out of 176 candidates from Congress, 5 (4 percent) out of 138 candidates from BSP, and 11 (39 percent) out of 28 candidates from AAP, the report said.
Published Date: Dec 12, 2017 09:40 am | Updated Date: Dec 12, 2017 09:40 am
