AAP too fielding tainted candidates

Almost 50 per cent of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s candidates, contesting in the third phase of the general elections, has criminal cases. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) trail with 29 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

In relative terms, 38 out of 80 candidates from the BJP, 21 out of 72 candidates from the Congress, 15 out of 78 candidates from the AAP have declared criminal cases against them.

National Election Watch and Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed the affidavits of 1,391 candidates out of 1,419 to check criminal cases, financial situation and educational background. It found that Kerala (74) and Maharashtra (36) have the maximum number of candidates with criminal cases.

The third phase of elections is scheduled on April 10, a day after the second phase. The polling begins on April 7. A total of 91 Lok Sabha seats will be up for fight in 14 states, including those in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Delhi.

  "Kameshwar Baitha (sitting MP) from Palamu constituency, Jharkhand, has declared 109 serious Indian Penal Code (IPC) counts followed by Narendra Mohanty of AAP from Kandhamal constituency, Odisha, with 28 serious IPC counts and Keshwar Yadav of Samajwadi Party from Chatra constituency, Jharkhand, with 20 serious IPC counts," the release said.

Nine candidates each have cases of murder and crime against women. Another 29 have cases pertaining to attempt to murder.

Haryana (95) and Uttar Pradesh (65) have maximum number of millionaire candidates. Naveen Jindal and Kamal Nath of the Congress and Malook Nagar of the Bahujan Samaj Party are the richest candidates with each having assets more than Rs 200 crore.