No less than 502 candidates have declared criminal proceedings against themselves. (Representative)
New Delhi:
About 34% of the 1,463 candidates in the second phase of Bihar’s assembly election declared criminal charges against themselves, according to a report by the voting rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
About 27% or 389 applicants reported serious criminal charges against themselves, he said. Serious criminal cases are offenses not punishable by more than five years’ imprisonment.
No less than 502 candidates, or 34%, declared criminal proceedings against themselves.
A total of 495, or nearly 34%, gave their financial assets worth crore rupees while three applicants declared assets to be zero, according to the report.
According to the report, 36 (64%) of the 56 candidates analyzed by the RJD declared criminal proceedings against themselves and 28 (50%) declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
About 29 (63%) of the 46 candidates analyzed by the BJP reported criminal charges against themselves and 20 (44%) reported serious criminal charges against themselves in their affidavits, according to the report.
The report states that around 28 (54%) of the 52 candidates analyzed by the LJP declared criminal proceedings against themselves and 24 (46%) declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
About 14 (58%) of 24 candidates analyzed by Congress, 16 (49%) of 33 candidates analyzed by BSP and 20 (47%) of 43 candidates analyzed by JD (U) reported criminal prosecutions against themselves in their affidavits.
Fourteen (42 percent) of the 33 candidates analyzed by the BSP, 10 (42 percent) of the 24 candidates analyzed by the Congress and 15 (35 percent) of the 43 candidates analyzed by the JD (U) declared themselves serious about business criminal charges against themselves in their affidavits, according to the report.
As many as 49 applicants reported cases related to crimes against women and out of 49 applicants four reported cases related to rape, he said.
The report states that 32 candidates reported murder-related cases (IPC Section-302) against themselves and 143 candidates reported attempted murder-related cases (IPC Section-307) against themselves.
About 84 (89%) of the 94 seats are “red alert” constituencies.
“Red alert” constituencies are those where three or more candidates have declared criminal charges against themselves.
“The Supreme Court’s instructions had no effect on political parties in selecting candidates as they again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 34% of candidates with criminal prosecution.” All of the major parties contending in Bihar’s Phase II elections have given tickets to 47-64% of the candidates who have declared criminal charges against themselves, ”he said.
The Supreme Court, in its guidelines in February, had asked political parties to give reasons for the selection of candidates with a criminal background and why other people without a criminal background could not be selected.
Details of the applicants’ financial situation were also given in the report.
“Of the 1,463 applicants, 495 (34%) are crorepatis. Among the main parties, 39 (85%) out of 46 candidates analyzed by the BJP, 20 (83%) out of 24 candidates analyzed by Congress, 46 (82%) out of 56 candidates analyzed from RJD, 35 (81%) out of 43 candidates analyzed from JD (U), 38 (73%) out of 52 candidates analyzed from LJP and 11 (33%) of 33 candidates from BSP reported assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, ”a he declared.
The average assets of candidates in the second round of the elections are Rs 1.72 crore, according to the report.
“Among the major parties, the average assets per candidate for 24 Congress candidates analyzed is Rs 10.25 crore, 43 JD (U) candidates analyzed is Rs 4.95 crore, 56 RJD candidates have an average assets of 4 , Rs 82 crore, 52 LJP candidates have Rs 3.86 crore, 46 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 3.44 crore and 33 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.30 crore. Three candidates have declared a zero asset while 683 (47%) candidates declared commitments in their affidavits, “It said.
Bihar’s elections will take place in three phases for a total of 243 seats – the first phase for 71 seats on October 28, the second phase for 94 seats on November 3, and the third phase for the remaining 78 seats will take place on November 7.
Results will be announced on November 10.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
