MP election: At least 464 candidates in fray for 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh have criminal cases registered against them, an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits submitted by 2716 out of 2899 candidates has revealed. The number is slightly up from 2013 when 407 candidates out of 2494 analysed were found to be having criminal cases against them.
The study by by Madhya Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) further revealed that out of 464, a total of 295 candidates have declared serious criminal cases registered against them, with 16 charged with cases related to murder, and 24 charged with cases related to attempt to murder.
Six out of total candidates have declared cases related to kidnapping such as kidnapping or abducting in order to murder (IPC Section-364), and kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person (IPC Section-365), the study said.
Further, 20 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women, this includes incidents of subjecting a woman to cruelty (IPC Section-498A), and assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354).
Party wise candidates with criminal cases
Congress topped the chart when it came fielding number of candidates with criminal cases, the BJP followed on the number two spot. While 65 (30%) out of 220 candidates from the BJP have criminal cases against them, the number of candidates from Congress in significantly higher with 108 (43%) out of 223 candidates having declared criminal cases against them.
The state of Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on Wednesday, November 28. The counting will take place on Tuesday, December 12.
