Dehradun: Out of 632 candidates contesting in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttarakhand, 105 candidates have criminal cases registered against them, as disclosed by the Election Commission recently. The information has come to the fore after all the political parties fielding candidates with criminal cases uploaded the details of such persons on their website, as required of them according to the rules of the Election Commission and under the orders of the Supreme Court, in the purview of the upcoming Assembly Polls.
The figure of the criminal count in the election fray has increased this time as compared to the last assembly polls. In the 2017 assembly elections, 92 out of 630 candidates had criminal backgrounds. Out of these 105 candidates, 22 belong to Congress, 25 are contesting independently, 13 are from the BJP, 11 from BSP, 6 from the Samajwadi Party and 7 candidates are from the UKD. Apart from these, AIMIM, Loktantrik Janshakti Party, Nationalist Janlok Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Uttarakhand Jan Ekta Party, Uttarakhand Janata Party, Akhand Bharat Vikas Party, CPI Liberation Party and Azad Samaj Party also have one candidate each.
Giving some clarity on the general rules and regulations for the candidates with criminal backgrounds, the State Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya said that these candidates have to publish complete details about themselves in the vernacular as well as local newspapers at least thrice. "We have accordingly directed all the candidates and asked them to do so within the allotted time before the elections commence. The date slab for completing these formalities has been scheduled between February 1 and February 12, while we will be monitoring their cooperation with the rules," she said.
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