About 330 of the total 1,621 candidates who are contesting gujarat assembly election In early December, criminal cases should be filed against them. According to Monday’s report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the report showed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) topped the list with 61 such candidates.
Of these 330 candidates with criminal cases, 167 candidates are contesting on 89 seats in the first phase, while 163 on 93 seats in the second phase, the ADR analysis report showed.
In the 2017 elections, there were 238 candidates who had criminal cases against them. gujarat electionAs per PTI report.
Based on the survey of the candidates of both the phases, the ADR report was released on Monday. It cited an analysis of affidavits of all 1,621 candidates in the fray for the two-phase Gujarat elections to be held on December 1 and 5.
The oldest party, the Congress comes second with 60 such candidates, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 32 candidates with criminal cases against them.
According to the ADR report, a total of 192 candidates, including 96 candidates from the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AAP, have been booked for serious offenses related to murder, rape and attempt to murder. Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP topped the list with 43 candidates for serious crimes, followed by Congress with 28 and BJP with 25, news agency PTI reported.
In the elections to the 182-member state assembly, AAP fielded 181 candidates, followed by Congress 179 and BJP 182.
Besides this, 18 candidates have been named in crimes against women, while one is accused of rape, five are accused of murder, and 20 are accused of attempt to murder, the report said.
A case of murder has been registered against AAP’s Kiran Patel, who is contesting from Daskroi seat in Ahmedabad district. In Congress, Kirit Patel, who is contesting from Patan seat in an attempt to murder case, while BJP’s Jetha Bharwad, who is contesting from Shehra seat in Panchmahal district, is facing charges of rape, kidnapping, extortion, outraging the modesty of a woman, etc.
The report also claimed that the directions of the Supreme Court have not had any effect Political parties while selecting the candidates. In February 2020, the apex court specifically directed political parties to explain the reasons for such selection and why other persons without criminal antecedents cannot be selected as candidates.
As per these mandatory guidelines, the reason for such selection should be with reference to the merit, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned.
(With PTI inputs)
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