According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO working in the field of electoral reforms, political parties have nominated 212 candidates of criminal background, contesting the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab assembly elections. No reason has been given for the selection. The ADR has said that instead of giving reasons in many cases, political parties have justified their move.
In Uttar Pradesh, political parties have cited reasons for selecting 689 (83 per cent) out of 827 candidates with criminal cases and 511 (82 per cent) out of 623 candidates with serious criminal cases. The political parties concerned have not given any reason for the selection of 138 candidates (17 per cent) with criminal background.
In Uttarakhand, reasons were provided for selection of 64 (84 per cent) out of 76 candidates with criminal background and 37 (86 per cent) out of 43 candidates with serious criminal cases. Along with this, the political parties concerned have not given any reason for the selection of 12 (16 percent) candidates with criminal background in Uttarakhand.