As many as 126 candidates have declared criminal cases pending against them.
The 49 Uttar Pradesh assembly constituencies that will vote today for the sixth and the second last phase will witness 635 candidates pitched against each other in a bitter battle. Of them, as many as 126 candidates or 20 per cent of the total number for this phase have declared criminal cases against them.
Analysis by Association for democratic Reform (ADR) reveals that 109 candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including that of murder, attempt to murder and cases related to crime against women. Nine persons have declared cases related to murder against them, says the analysis.
BSP tops the list with 24 candidates with criminal records in the fray this phase followed by 22 Independent candidates, 18 from BJP and 15 from SP. Congress can boast of a comparatively cleaner record in this regard with three of its 100 candidates having criminal records.
Incidentally, the number of candidates with criminal cases matches up to the number of crorepati candidates. Phase 6 has 160 crorepatis. The average of assets per candidate contesting in the sixth phase is Rs 1.59 crore.
ADR has termed 24 seats in this phase as Red Alert Constituencies. Each of these have three or more candidates with declared criminal cases.
Party wise break up of candidates with declared criminal cases - Phase 6| Party | Total number of candidates analysed | Candidates with Declared criminal Cases |
|---|
| BJP | 45 | 18 |
| Congress | 10 | 3 |
| BSP | 49 | 24 |
| SP | 40 | 15 |
| RLD | 36 | 5 |
| Lok Dal | 11 | 3 |
| Peace Party | 12 | 3 |
| CPI | 15 | 4 |
| NCP | 14 | 3 |
| CPI(M) | 4 | 2 |
| Others | 224 | 24 |
| IND | 175 | 22 |
| TOTAL | 635 | 126 |
| Source : ADR |