In the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections, 199 (22 per cent) out of 904 candidates contesting in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 151 (17 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases, according to a report.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and The National Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 904 candidates, who are contesting in Phase 7 of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 across seven states and one union territory.
A total of 13 candidates have declared cases where they have been convicted and four candidates have cases against them related to murder (IPC Section -302) against themselves. Twenty-seven candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307) against themselves.
A total of 13 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 13 candidates, two candidates contesting in the last phase have declared charge related to rape (IPC Section-376) and whoever commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but may extend to imprisonment (IPC Section-376(2)(n)).
At least 25 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech against themselves.
According to ADR, among the major political parties, the following percentages of candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves: TMC – 7 (78%) out of 9 candidates, SP – 7 (78%) out of 9 candidates, CPI(M) – 5 (63%) out of 8 candidates, SAD – 8 (62%) out of 13 candidates, BJP – 23 (45%) out of 51 candidates, INC – 12 (39%) out of 31 candidates, AAP – 5 (39%) out of 13 candidates, BJD – 2 (33%) out of 6 candidates, CPI – 2 (29%) out of 7 candidates, and BSP – 13 (23%) out of 56 candidates.
Among the major political parties, serious criminal cases have been declared against 6 (67%) out of 9 candidates from SP, 4 (50%) out of 8 candidates from CPI(M), 18 (35%) out of 51 candidates from BJP, 3 (33%) out of 9 candidates from AITC, 2 (33%) out of 6 candidates from BJD, 4 (31%) out of 13 candidates from SAD, 4 (31%) out of 13 candidates from AAP, 7 (23%) out of 31 candidates from INC, 10 (18%) out of 56 candidates from BSP, and 1 (14%) out of 7 candidates from CPI.
A total of (68 per cent) out of 57 constituencies are red alert constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 phase 7. Red alert constituencies are those constituencies where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.