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Lok Sabha elections in newly-formed Telangana will be held on April 30, where 265 candidates will contest for the 17 parliamentary constituencies.
The Association of Democratic Reforms analysed these 265 candidates and found that 49 of them have criminal records, while 74 are crorepatis.
While this is the data for the Telangana region, there are 8 other states which too will go to polls on the same day as part of the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The ADR report states that 222 out of the total 1295 candidates in the fray in the 7th phase of polls have criminal records. There are also 341 crorepati candidates in the list.
Gujarat has a total of 334 candidates of which 65 have criminal records and 78 are crorepatis.
In Bihar there are 31 candidates with criminal records and the same number of crorepatis out of the total 94 in fray.
In Daman and Diu out of the 4 candidates two have criminal records and three are crorepatis.
Punjab has 253 candidates of which 56 are crorepatis and 23 have criminal records.
Uttar Pradesh has 233 candidates of which 33 have criminal records and 73 are crorepatis.
In West Bengal out of the 83 candidates, 17 are crorepatis while 13 have criminal cases pending against them.
Jammu and Kashmir has just one candidate with a pending criminal case. Out of the 11 there are 6 who are crorepatis.
Out of the 1292 candidates analysed, 222 have pending criminal cases in the 7th phase of the polls. Ironically out of the 222 there are 139 who have declared serious criminal charges against them related to murder, attempt to murder, communal disharmony, electoral violations, crimes against women, etc.
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who is contesting from Bihar’s Madhepura constituency, has declared 24 criminal cases against him, followed by Vasava Kishorbhai Chhotubhai who is contesting from Surat on a Janata Dal-United ticket with 17 criminal cases, BJP’s Unnao candidate Swami Sachchidanand Hari Sakshi with 8 criminal cases.
Four candidates have declared cases related to murder while 19 have attempt to murder charges pending against them, while 10 candidates have declared cases related to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (IPC section-153A).
One candidate has declared a case related to “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” (IPC section-295A) and two candidates have declared cases related to “injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class” (IPC section-295).
Four candidates have declared cases related to Prevention of Corruption Act while seven have cases pertaining to electoral violations. 11 candidates have declared that they have cases pending relating to crime against women.
27 (33%) out of 81 candidates from Congress, 24 (35%) out of 68 candidates from Bharatiya Janata Party, 7 (10%) out of 68 candidates from Aam Aadmi Party, 16 (19%) out of 83 candidates fielded by Bahujan Samaj Party and 55 (11%) out of 485 independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, the date shows.
7 (9%) out of 81 candidates from Congress, 19 (28%) out of 68 candidates from BJP, 4 (6%) out of 68 candidates from AAP, 10 (12%) out of 83 candidates fielded by BSP and 34 (7%) out of 485 independent candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
42 constituencies have at least 3 candidates with declared criminal cases. Khagaria in Bihar has seven candidates -- the highest number in the country -- with criminal records.
Meanwhile, out of the 1292 candidates analysed, 341 (26%) are crorepatis. 64 (79%) out of 81 candidates in Congress, 51 (75%) out of 68 candidates in BJP, 34 (50%) out of 68 candidates in AAP and 25 (30%) out of 83 candidates in BSP and 50 (10%) out of 485 independent candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The average assets per candidate contesting in the 7th phase of Lok Sabha 2014 elections is Rs.3.77 crore.
Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 81 Congress candidates is Rs 15.07 crores, 68 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs.11.19 crores, 68 AAP candidates have average assets worth of Rs. 3.03 crores and 83 BSP candidates have average assets of Rs. 1.50 crores, the data reveals.
60 (74%) out of 81 Congress candidates occupy the top three highest assets positions amongst all the contesting candidates in their respective constituencies. Similarly, 47 (69%) out of 68 BJP candidates, 13 (16%) out of 83 BSP candidates and 27 (40%) out of 68 AAP candidates occupy the top three highest assets positions in their constituency.
20 candidates have declared more than Rs.50 crores worth of assets, while a total of 52 candidates have declared liabilities of more than Rs1 crore. Out of these 52 candidates, 8 have declared liabilities of Rs 10 crore and above.
24 candidates have declared that they have pending dues to government departments, while 19 candidates have declared total annual income of more than Rs. 1 crore.
Out of the candidates in fray in the 7th phase of polls, Telangana Rashtriya Samithi’s Konda Vishweshwar Reddy is the richest with Rs 14 crore, followed by BJP’s Paresh Dahyalal Rawal with Rs 8 crore and Dr Gaddam Vivekanand of Congress with Rs 6 crore.