Final phases will test CM’s move on Ansaris
Lucknow: The last two phases of UP elections will put CM Akhilesh Yadav’s leadership skills to test. His decision to oppose the Qaumi Ekta Dal’s merger with his SP triggered a war within the Samajwadi family. The QED has merged with the BSP, and Mukhtar Ansari, his son and his brother are now in the fray, campaigning extensively against the SP in about a dozen UP districts.
Of the 635 candidates contesting in the sixth phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh, 126 have declared their criminal antecedent, meaning about 20 per cent of the contestants have criminal cases against them.
Of these, 109 candidates have been booked in serious criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crime against women.
Nine candidates have been booked for murder, 23 are facing cases related to attempt to murder, two candidates are involved in cases related to crime against women and one candidates has been booked for kidnapping.
This was revealed by the UP Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms in a report on Wednesday.
According to the ADR report, nearly 40 per cent of the candidates (18 out of 45) in the BJP have criminal cases, while 49 per cent candidates (24 out of 49) in BSP are in the same category.
Five out of 36 candidates in the Rashtriya Lok Dal and 15 out of 40 candidates in the Samajwadi Party have criminal cases. The Congress has ten candidates in this phase of which 3 have criminal cases.
Among the 175 independent candidates, 22 have criminal cases against them.