More candidates with criminal cases than in 2018

There are more candidates with declared criminal cases in all three parties after 2018. It has risen from 83 to 96 in the BJP, 59 to 122 among the Congress candidates, and 41 to 70 in the JD(S), according to the ‘Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other Details of Candidates’ report, released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).  

Eight candidates have declared murder-related cases (IPC Section 302), 35 candidates have attempts to murder cases (Section 307), and 49 candidates have declared cases of crime against women, including one rape case. ADR sources suggest permanent disqualification of candidates convicted for heinous crimes like murder, rape, smuggling, dacoity and kidnapping and disqualification of those who have serious criminal offences.

The analysis of election affidavits by DAKSH in association with Bangalore Political Action Committee ( B. PAC) said that some of the cases are at the investigative stage, while most are at courts. The cases include attempts to murder, cheating, corruption, money laundering, and rioting.

BJP’s Rajarajeswari Nagar candidate and Horticulture Minister Munirathna Naidu has four cases against him and C Govindaraj, the JD(S) candidate from Chamarajpet, has 17 cases. Other candidates include B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, the Congress MLA from Chamarajpet; N Chandra, the BJP candidate from Shivajinagar; Ramalinga Reddy (Congress BTM Layout MLA); Sowmya Reddy (Congress Jayanagar MLA); R Ashok (revenue minister and BJP Padmanabhanagar MLA); CN Ashwath Narayan (BJP Malleswaram MLA and Minister of Higher Education & IT/BT), and ST Somashekar (BJP Yeshwanthpur MLA and Minister of Cooperation).