New Delhi: Twenty-one percent of the 1,710 candidates in fray for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 have criminal cases registered against them even as 24 candidates have declared zero assets, the Association for Democratic Reforms report has revealed.
The ADR along with the National Election Watch have made the revelation based on the analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 1710 out of 1717 candidates, who are contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase IV scheduled to be held on May 13.
According to the ADR report, a total of 360 candidates accounting for 21 percent of the candidates have declared criminal cases against them in the affidavits. The report said that 17 candidates have been convicted, 11 declared cases related to murder, 30 face charges of attempted murder and 50 candidates have criminal cases related to crimes against women, with 5 candidates facing charges of rape.
Party-wise, the ADR report said that 3 out of 3 candidates from AIMIM, 2 out of 3 candidates from Shiv Sena, 10 out of 17 candidates from BRS, 35 out of 61 candidates from Congress, 40 out of 70 candidates from BJP, 9 out of 17 candidates from TDP, 2 out of 4 candidates from BJD, 2 out of 4 candidates from RJD, 2 out of 4 candidates from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 12 out of 25 candidates from YSRCP, 3 out of 8 candidates from All India Trinamool Congress and 7 out of 19 candidates from Samajwadi Party have declared criminal cases against themselves.
In terms of the candidates' financial backgrounds, the ADR report said that a total of 476 candidates out of 1710 are crorepatis, with assets exceeding Rs. 1 crore, with Dr Pemmasani being the richest while 24 candidates declared zero assets.
As per the report, the richest candidate in the fray is Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani of Telugu Desam Party with assets over Rs. 5,700 crore.
The ADR has proposed a series of reforms aimed at curbing the criminalization of politics including permanent disqualification of candidates convicted of serious crimes, bringing political parties under the Right to Information Act, and implementing stricter penalties for candidates providing false information on election affidavits.
