22% Candidates Running In 7th Phase Of Lok Sabha Elections Faces Criminal Charges

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 27th May. According to a report released on Monday by the non-governmental organization Association for Democratic Reforms, twenty-two percent, or 199 out of the 904 candidates running in the seventh round of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1, have filed criminal charges against themselves.
The self-sworn affidavits of all 904 candidates running in the seventh phase across seven states and one Union territory were examined by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election.
In the last stage of the Lok Sabha elections, voting will take place in Bihar, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. According to the report, 151 candidates—or 17% of the 904 total—have filed severe criminal complaints against themselves.
According to the poll monitor, major criminal offenses are defined as those that involve loss to the exchequer, have a maximum sentence of five years or more, and are not subject to bail. Aside from these, other serious offenses include those included by the Representation of the People Act, assault, murder, kidnapping, and rape. They also include crimes against women and offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The report states that thirteen applicants from the seventh round have declared cases in which they were found guilty. Four contenders have filed murder-related cases against themselves. Twenty-seven candidates have disclosed incidents pertaining to attempted murder, whereas twenty-five have disclosed crimes pertaining to hate speech.

A total of thirteen candidates running in the last round of voting have disclosed incidents involving crimes against women. According to the article, two of these 13 candidates have filed allegations pertaining to rape.

Among the major parties, criminal cases are pending against five of the thirteen Aam Aadmi Party candidates in this phase; four of them have indicated in their affidavit that they are facing significant criminal charges.

There are criminal charges against seven out of the nine Samajwadi Party candidates, six of whom have declared themselves to be seriously charged, while 23 out of 51 Bharatiya Janata Party candidates are facing criminal charges. Of them, eighteen have filed significant criminal complaints.

Three of the nine Trinamool Congress candidates face significant criminal charges, making seven of the nine have criminal cases against them.

Eight of the thirteen candidates for the Shiromani Akali Dal and five of the eight candidates for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have said in their affidavits that they are filing criminal charges.

Thirteen of the thirty-one candidates in the Congress, two of the six candidates in the Biju Janata Dal, two of the seven candidates in the Communist Party of India, and thirteen of the fifty-six candidates in the Bahujan Samaj Party have filed criminal complaints against themselves.

The analysis discovered that 39 of the 57 seats that would be voting in the sixth phase are “red alert” constituencies, meaning that three or more candidates have filed criminal complaints against themselves.

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Asset revaluation

The report states that 299 out of the 904 candidates disclosed assets valued at more than one crore rupees.

All thirteen candidates from the Shiromani Akali Dal, thirteen from the Aam Aadmi Party, six from the Biju Janata Dal, and nine from the Samajwadi Party have disclosed assets over one crore.

Thirty of the thirty-one candidates in the Congress, eight of the nine candidates in the Trinamool Congress, forty-four of the fifty-one candidates in the BJP, four of the eight candidates in the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and twenty-two of the fifty-six candidates in the Bahujan Samaj Party that were analyzed have declared assets exceeding one crore.

According to the survey, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal is the richest candidate running in the seventh round, with assets valued at over 198 crore.

With assets valued over Rs 148 crore, Baijayant Panda of the BJP is the second-richest candidate, ahead of Chandigarh contender Sanjay Tandon of the Hindutva party, who has assets valued over Rs 111 crore.

With stated assets of Rs 1,500, Bhanumati Das of the Utkal Samaj party in Odisha is the poorest candidate running in the elections.