Ahead of upcoming Assembly elections 2017, Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association of Democratic Reforms has released a report consisting of the number of criminal cases and wealth of the candidates contesting in the first phase of Assembly election. The report states that one in every six candidates contesting in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls has serious criminal charges against him/her whereas one in three candidates is a Crorepati. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has topped the list with 29 out of its 73 candidates have criminal cases against them.
The report of Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association of Democratic Reforms has scrutinised 836 out of the 839 self-sworn affidavits who will be contesting in the first phase of the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 11. The report consists of the details about the financial and criminal records of the candidates contesting in the first phase.
168 candidates (20 percent of the total candidates) have serious criminal cases registered against them. Out of the 168 candidates, 143 candidates have serious criminal cases registered in their name. There are 15 candidates who have cases of murder against them, 42 candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder against them, two candidates have declared cases of kidnapping for ransom registered in their name and five candidates have cases of crimes against women to their name which includes assault or criminal force to women with intent to outrage her modesty and rape.
Party-wise, 29 out of the 73 candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have criminal cases against them whereas 28 out of the 73 candidates of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have declared cases against them. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has 19 out of 57 candidates who have criminal cases whereas 15 out of 51 candidates of Samajwadi Party and 6 out of 24 candidates of Indian National Congress have declared criminal cases against them. There are 293 independent candidates contesting in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and 38 out of 293 candidates have declared criminal cases against them.
The report states that, “Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 26(36%) out of 73 candidates from BSP, 22 (30%) out of 73 candidates from BJP, 15 (26%) out of 57 candidates from RLD, 13(26%) out of 51 candidates from SP and 34 (12%) out of 293 Independent candidates have declared serious criminal cases against.”
The report also consists of the wealth of the candidates contesting in the first phase. Out of the 836 candidates, a whopping 302 candidates (36 percent) have declared of owning assets over a crore rupees. The top three wealthiest candidates in the election are Nazir Ahmad of Congress (211 crore rupees), Satish Kumar Sharma of BJP (114 crore rupees) and Rani Pakshalika Singh of BJP (58 crore rupees). Hasanuram Ambedkari of IND is the poorest candidate contesting the election with a declared asset of Rs 1,000. The average assets of the 836 candidates amounted to Rs 2.81 crore.
