Of the 280 candidates who will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Congress and BJP tickets, 84 have declared criminal cases against them, even as 36 among them are facing serious criminal charges like murder and kidnapping, a report has stated.
The report, based on the analysis of affidavits of 280 out of 469 candidates whose names have been announced by Congress and BJP till March 13, further states that 161 (58 per cent) candidates are crorepatis with an average asset of Rs 4.86 crore.
The report has been prepared by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) and is based on analysis of the background details of 280 candidates whose affidavits were available from assembly or Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections in the past.
Out of 165 Congress candidates analysed, 44 candidates (27 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves in their previous election affidavit. BJP has 40 out of 115 candidates (35 per cent) with criminal cases, the report stated.
Moreover, out of those 44 candidates of Congress with criminal cases, 16 have declared serious charges registered against them.
Likewise, 20 out of 40 BJP candidates with criminal cases have serious charges levelled against them.
