Guns and Bosses

An analysis of affidavits filed by 1,425 candidates running in Phase-I reveals there are 222 Lok Sabha candidates with criminal records

It's raining criminals this election season, New Delhi-based outfits Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) have said in a report. Analysing the affidavits filed by 1,425 candidates who are contesting in the first phase, the report reveals there are 222 Lok Sabha candidates with criminal records. The Congress has fielded two dozen such candidates, while the BJP comes a close second with 23. Mayawati’s BSP has fielded 17 candidates with criminal records and the SP 10. Bihar tops the list with 51 such candidates. The Jahanabad constituency in the state is fielding eight candidates with criminal records, while Chandauli in UP and Chandrapur in Maharashtra have seven each.