39 BJP candidates have criminal background

The incident of a sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor, who is also seeking re-election, allegedly stabbing a party worker to death barely five days before voting, has certainly earned a bad name to the party.

It could not have happened at a worse time.

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The incident of a sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor, who is also seeking re-election, allegedly stabbing a party worker to death barely five days before voting, has certainly earned a bad name to the party.

Infighting within the party due to distribution of tickets is said to be the reason behind the incident. The incident has come as a major embarrassment to the BJP, which is already facing rebellion over distribution of party tickets.

While senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley termed the incident as "unfortunate" and said he does not see any politics behind it and blamed it on the poor law and order situation in the city, the party is already under fire for giving ticket to 39 candidates who have criminal cases against them registered in different police stations.

Eleven of these 39 candidates have serious criminal charges against them, including attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery and extortion.

Various apolitical organisations working in the field of electoral reforms are disturbed with the trend.

"Though we have been trying to bring awareness among the electorate, it does not seem to have much impact. Unfortunately, bigger political parties give more tickets to candidates with criminal background than smaller parties," said Kamal Kant Jaswal, director, Common Cause, an NGO working in the field of electoral reforms.