100 CANDIDATES IN PHASE 1 FRAY FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES: REPORT

GANDHINAGAR: The Association for Democratic Reforms, a registered NGO working for electoral reforms in the country, and the Gujarat Election Watch, a programme by ADR, on Thursday, released a report on the candidates for the first phase of Gujarat elections which will be held on 1 December .

The report showed that of 788 candidates in the fray in the first phase, when 89 seats go to vote, 100 have serious criminal charges against them.

The 100 includes 26 from the Aam Aadmi Party, a new entrant in the state, 18 from the Congress, 11 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 35 independents.

If the list is expanded to include those with criminal charges, it swells to 167.

A total of 12 candidates are facing charges related to an attempt to murder (Section 307 of Indian Penal Code).

Nine candidates have declared cases related to crime against women and three face cases related to murder.

To be sure, there’s no law that prohibits people who have cases against them from contesting the polls, especially because at least some of the cases are likely to be politically motivated.

However, convicted felons cannot contest polls.

The BJP has the richest candidates with an average net worth of ₹13.40 crore; the number for the Congress is ₹8.38 crore and AAP, ₹1.99 crore.