New Delhi: At least 31 per cent of the candidates contesting in the third phase of Bihar Assembly Elections have criminal cases registered against them, the Association of Democratic Reforms report (ADR) report said on Monday. A total of 1,204 candidates are in the fray for the phase 3 elections which is scheduled to take place on November 7.
The ADR said it analysed the self sworn affidavits of all 1,195 out of 1,204 candidates who are contesting in the Bihar Assembly Elections Phase III and found that 371 (31%) have criminal cases registered against them.
In the third phase of polls, 32 out of 44 candidates of RJD, 26 out of 34 candidates of BJP, 19 out of 25 candidates of Congress, 18 out of 42 candidates of LJP, 21 out of 37 candidates of JD(U) and 5 out of 9 candidates of BSP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Of all the candidates analysed, 24% (282) had declared serious criminal cases against themselves, including rape, murder, assault and kidnapping.
READ: '31% candidates in first phase of Bihar polls face criminal cases'
30 % of candidates are crorepatis
Giving details about the crorepati candidates contesting in the third phase of Bihar elections, ADR said, out of the 1195 candidates, 361(30%) are crorepatis. The ADR report said, the average of assets per candidate contesting in the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 Phase III is Rs 1.47 crore.
Among the major parties, 31 out of 34 candidates of the BJP, 17 out of 25 candidates of the Congress, 35 out of 44 candidates of the RJD, 30 out of 37 candidates of the JD(U), 31 out of 42 candidates of the LJP and 10 out of 19 candidates of the BSP have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
"The directions of the Supreme Court have no effect on the political parties in the selection of candidates as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 31% candidates with criminal cases in the third phase of Bihar assembly elections," said, Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member of the Association for Democratic Reforms(ADR) while addressing a virtual press conference today.
READ: Bihar Polls: 34% phase II candidates have criminal cases, RJD tops list
The Supreme Court in its directions dated 13 February 2020 had specifically instructed political parties to give reasons for such selection and why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sent notices to 104 candidates of different parties in the Bihar assembly election for not mandatorily publicising pending cases against them.
According to ADR, only JDU, RJD, Congress and CPI (M-L) had complied with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court mandating political parties to upload detailed information regarding candidates with pending criminal cases on their websites.
