ADR and The National Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,618 out of 1,625 candidates, contesting in Phase I elections to be held in 21 states.
A total of 161 out of 1,618 candidates, who will contest in the Phase I Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 19, have declared serious criminal cases against them, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
ADR and The National Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,618 out of 1,625 candidates, contesting in Phase I elections to be held in 21 states.
A total of 252 candidates have declared criminal cases, and 15 have declared cases where they have been convicted
Seven candidates have declared cases related to murder with Section 302 invoked against them, while 19 candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307) against them. A total of 18 candidates have cases related to crime against women, and out of these 18, one has declared cases related to rape (IPC Section 376).
Among the major parties, 4 (100 per cent) out of four candidates from RJD, 13 (59 per cent) out of 22 candidates from DMK, 3 (43 per cent) out of 7 candidates from SP, 2 (40 per cent) out of 5 candidates from TMC, 28 (36 per cent) out of 77 candidates from BJP, 13 (36 per cent) out of 36 candidates from AIADMK, 19 (34 per cent) out of 56 candidates from Congress and 11 (13 per cent) out of 86 candidates from BSP have declared criminal cases against themselves.
According to the ADR report, among the major parties, 2 (50 per cent) out of 4 candidates from RJD, 6 (27 per cent) out of 22 candidates from DMK, 2 (29 per cent) out of 7 candidates from SP, 1 (20 per cent) out of 5 candidates from Trinamool Congress, 14 (18 per cent) out of 77 candidates from BJP, 6 (17 per cent) out of 36 candidates from AIADMK, 8 (14 per cent) out of 56 candidates from INC and 8 (9 per cent) out of 86 candidates from BSP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
There are 42 (41 percent) out of 102 constituencies are red alert constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 phase I. Red alert constituencies are those constituencies where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.