As many as 173 out of the 1,761 candidates in the fray in Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha polls have declared that they are facing serious criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, rape and robbery, according to National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms. The two bodies analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,739 candidates. The exercise could not be done for the others as unclear/incomplete affidavits were uploaded on the Election Commission website, Bhaskar Assoldekar of NEW/ADR told The Hindu on Thursday. As many as 279 candidates (16 per cent) have declared that they are facing criminal cases. As for serious criminal offences, 12 candidates face murder cases, 27 face attempt to murder cases, and 12 face cases of crime against women.

Dambale Rahul Dharma, an Independent in Pune, has said he is facing a rape case.