Home India News Gujarat’s second phase poll: 19 percent nominees with criminal records

Gujarat’s second phase poll: 19 percent nominees with criminal records

By IANS,

New Delhi: over 19 percent of the candidates in the second phase of Gujarat assembly elections have criminal records, think tank Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said Saturday.

In the first phase of elections to be held Dec 13, 22 percent of the candidates have criminal background, it said.

In the second phase of election Dec 17, about 78 out of 402 candidates have declared criminal cases, said a statement from the Gujarat wing of ADR.

According to ADR, in the second phase all major parties have given tickets to candidates who have declared criminal cases. The Congress has 33 percent of such candidates, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 26 percent, former BJP leader Keshubhai Patel’s Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) 18 percent, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) six percent, the Janata Dal-United seven percent and the Samajwadi Party (SP) five percent.

Out of the 78 second phase candidates with declared criminal cases, 40 are facing serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and rape. Of these, the BJP has 15 candidates, the Congress 13, the GPP 5, the BSP three and the SP two.

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