Phase III: More Lok Sabha candidates with criminal cases than women in fray

There are more candidates with criminal cases than women candidates in the third phase of elections. The third phase of polls are on April 23.

There are 340 candidates with criminal cases against them in the third phase, while there are 142 women in the fray. About 21 per cent of the candidates have criminal cases against them as against 9 per cent women.

The data is based on a report from non-government organisations, the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which released their joint report ‘Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase III’ on Friday. It is based on an analysis of affidavits of 1,594 of 1,612 candidates. Some affidavits have not been analysed because of lack of properly scanned copies or incomplete information.

The proportion of women candidates is higher than the previous two phases. Women accounted for seven per cent and eight per cent, respectively, in phases one and two. The total number of women candidates now number 351 across the three phases. The number of candidates with declared criminal cases is 804.

A number of candidates have declared cases of crimes against women under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “…29 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women such as rape (IPC Section 376), assault or criminal force to women with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354), husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty (IPC Section-498A), etc, against themselves,” said the report.

About 256 candidates have cases of hate speech against them.

There have been debates against allowing those with criminal charges against them from contesting elections. Politicians have objected, noting that it can be used as a means of disqualifying candidates through the filing of false complaints and cases. The 20th Law Commission headed by Chairman Justice A P Shah, in its February 2014 report on “Electoral Disqualifications” also noted such objections from political parties.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, a body of global parliaments, noted that women account for around half of the world’s population, but an average of only 24 per cent in Parliaments. It noted that women tend to earn less money too. Increasing quotas are seen as a means of addressing the issue.

“More women in politics, and particularly in parliaments, can have a trickle-down effect for the whole of society. Women’s increasing influence results in positive changes in laws, practices, behaviour and cultures. However, women running for office face numerous challenges, including violence, harassment, and intimidation,” said a note on its website.

An interesting trend is also seen in the number of candidates who have declared assets of Rs 1 crore or more. They number 392 in the latest phase. This is equal to a quarter of the candidates in the third phase. The total number of such candidates with assets of more than Rs 1 crore is 1,216, or 27 per cent of candidates over the last three phases.

There are more criminals than women, but those with assets of a crore outnumber both of them.