Of the 1,618 candidates contesting in the first phase of the general election on April 19, 252 (16 percent) have declared criminal cases against themselves and 15 said they have been convicted

Of the 1,618 candidates contesting in the first phase of the general election on April 19, 252 (16 percent) have declared criminal cases against themselves and 15 said they have been convicted, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch.

ADR came up with the report after analysing the self-sworn affidavits of 1,618 out of 1,625 candidates who are contesting in the first phase in 21 states.

The report revealed that serious criminal cases are registered against 161 (10%) of the candidates. Seven candidates have murder cases lodged against them, while 19 are implicated in attempt to murder cases. 18 candidates have declared in their affidavits cases related to crimes against women, and one of them, faces rape charge under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Further, 35 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech against themselves.

Around 28 percent of candidates in the first phase are “crorepatis”. The average assets per candidate stands at Rs 4.51 crore, with notable discrepancies observed across party lines, the ADR found.

The top three candidates in terms of assets include Congress’ Nakul Nath (over Rs 716 crore), AIADMK’s Ashok Kumar (Rs 662 crore) and BJP’s Dhevanathan Yadav T (Rs 304 crore).

Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and the counting of votes will take place on June 4 for the world’s biggest election exercise in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bid for a third consecutive term.

The other phases will be held on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.