The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch issued fresh report on data of Lok Sabha elections phase-2 candidates who have criminal cases against them. A total of 250 candidates in the fray for the second phase of the Lok Sabha election have criminal cases against them, with three facing murder charges. 21 per cent candidates have criminal cases in the second phase of polling, the report said.
The report quoted an analysis of self-sworn affidavits of the contestants by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch.
The analysis was carried out on 1,192 of the 1,198 candidates contesting in the second phase of the election.
| Party | Constituency | Name | Cases | Serious IPC case |
| BJP | Wayanad | K Surendran | 243 | 139 |
| BJP | Ernakulam | Dr KS Radhakrishnan | 211 | 5 |
| Congress | Idukki | Adv. Dean Kuriakose | 88 | 23 |
Three candidates have murder cases
Three candidates have murder cases lodged against them, while 24 are implicated in attempt to murder cases, it showed.
One candidate faces rape charge
Twenty-five candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women and one of them faces rape charges under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Congress leader Ramchandra Choudhary, who is contesting from Rajasthan's Ajmer is facing a rape charge under IPC Sections - 376. An FIR with case no - 488/2019 was filed with police station Ramganj Ajmer in 2019.
Twenty-one candidates are linked to cases of hate speech, the analysis showed.
It also showed that 52 per cent of the 87 seats scheduled to go to polls in the second of the seven-phase elections are 'red alert' constituencies.
'Red alert' constituencies are those where three or more candidates have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.
The analysis showed that among major parties, there are criminal cases against 31 out of the 69 candidates from the BJP, 35 out of the 68 candidates from the Congress, all five candidates from the CPI, all four candidates from the SP, two out of three candidates from the Shiv Sena, two out of four candidates from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and two out of five candidates from the JD(U).
In tandem with the revelations on criminal backgrounds, the ADR said the analysis also highlights wealth disparities among candidates.
(With PTI inputs)
