E-Paper
A third of candidates in fray in 1st phase face criminal cases: Report
A report reveals nearly a third of candidates in Bihar's assembly elections face criminal charges, with 27% facing serious offenses.
Nearly a third of all candidates contesting in the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections have declared criminal cases against them, according to a new report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch released on Tuesday.
The report is based on analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 1,303 of the total 1,314 candidates in the poll fray across 121 assembly constituencies, which are going to polls in the first phase of the Bihar elections on November 6.
Of the 1,303 candidates analysed, 423 (32%) have reported criminal cases, and 354 (27%) are facing serious charges, including murder, attempt to murder, and crimes against women, according to the report.
Among those facing serious criminal charges, 33 candidates have declared cases of murder, 86 have attempt to murder cases while 42 candidates are accused in cases related to crimes against women, including two charged with rape, the ADR report added.
A party-wise analysis shows that among the major political parties, 53 (76%) of 70 candidates from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have declared criminal cases, with 42 (60%) accused in serious criminal cases. The Congress has 15(65%) of its 23 candidates with declared criminal cases, including 12(52%) with serious charges against them.
Similarly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 31(65%) of the 48 candidates with criminal charges, including 27 (56%) booked in serious criminal cases. Its ally, the Janata Dal (United) has 22 (39%) of 57 candidates with criminal cases, with 15 (26%) booked under serious charges. Seven (54%) out of 13 Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidates have criminal cases against them, with 5(38%) booked under serious charges.
Among the left parties, 13 (93%) out of 14 candidates from CPI(ML) Liberation are accused in criminal cases, with 9 (64%) booked under serious charges; the CPI and CPI(M) have 100% of their candidates facing criminal cases (5 and 3, respectively). The CPI and CPI(M) have 80% and 100% of their candidates analysed with declared serious criminal cases against them in their affidavits.
The newest entrant, Jan Suraaj Party has 50 (44%) out of 114 candidates with criminal cases against them, including 49 (43%) booked under serious charges.
The ADR report also identified 91 of the 121 constituencies (75%) going to polls in the first phase as “red alert constituencies”, where three or more candidates have declared criminal cases.
The report also highlights that 519 (40%) of the 1,303 candidates are crorepatis, with average assets per candidate standing at ₹3.26 crore. The BJP leads in wealth, with its 48 candidates reporting average assets of ₹11.30 crore, followed by LJP (Ram Vilas) candidates averaging ₹10.88 crore, RJD candidates averaging ₹10.37 crore and JD(U) candidates averaging ₹8.75 crore. Congress candidates have average assets of ₹5.85 crore while the Jan Suraaj Party candidates averaging ₹5.72 crore.
In terms of educational qualifications, 40% of all candidates had not gone beyond high school, 19 are diploma holders, 105 have declared themselves to be just literate, while eight are illiterate. Most candidates (51%) are aged between 41 and 60 years, 36% are aged between 25 and 40, 13% between 61 and 80, and 2 candidates are above the age of 80. Only 9% of all contestants in the first phase are women.
The second phase of polling will be held on November 11 and the results will be declared on November 14.
