The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections is set to be held on 6 May, in 51 constituencies across seven states. In a report released by The Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election , 126 candidates for Phase V are declared criminals while 184 are crorepatis.
The report analysed 668 out of the 674 contesting candidates for their criminal background, financial, educational and other details.
Criminal Cases Against Candidates
Figure: Major Party Wise Percentage of Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases
Among the major parties, 78 percent of the Samajwadi Party candidates have serious criminal cases against them which means they are accused of committing offences like corruption, assault, murder, kidnap or crimes against women.
While 46 percent of BJP candidates and 31 percent of Congress candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, all three candidates of Rashtriya Janta Dal in the fray in this phase have criminal cases against them.
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It also has the most number of "red alert constituencies," where 3 or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Independent candidate Saritha S Nair from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh has the most number of criminal cases against her with charges like criminal breach of trust, forgery for purpose of cheating and disappearance of evidence of offence.
Crorepatis Contesting in Elections
While 28 percent of the candidates are crorepatis, the average asset per candidate for phase five of the election is Rs 2.57 crore.
