Representative image of a person casting a vote.
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New Delhi: One in every four candidates fighting the Bihar Assembly elections in the second phase have serious criminal cases against them, while 73 or 60 per cent of the 122 seats are dubbed 'red alert' constituencies with three or more candidates with criminal cases registered against them, according to a private election watchdog.
There are also 562 crorepati candidates among the candidates, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in its report, which is based on analysis of affidavits of 1,297 out of 1,302 candidates, released on Tuesday. Around 354 of 27 per cent of 1,303 candidates analysed in phase 1 of the elections had serious criminal cases and 519 were crorepatis while 91 of 121 seats were dubbed 'red alert constituencies.
The report showed that 341 or 26 per cent candidates have serious criminal cases against them of which 19 have murder cases against them, 79 have attempt to murder cases and 52 candidates have crimes against women cases. Three candidates have declared cases of rape against them.
Jan Suraaj Party topped the list with 51 candidates while RJD had 27, BJP 22, Congress 20 and JD(U) 11 such candidates. The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the parties in selection of candidates as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to candidates with criminal cases.
Among the red alert constituencies, Sasaram (total 22 candidates), Chenari (15) and Kasba (13) topped the list with eight candidates having criminal cases against them.
Jan Suraaj Party also topped the list of crorepati candidates with 86 such candidates followed by RJD (59), BJP (44), JD-U (40) and Congress (31). The average of assets per candidate contesting in the elections in phase 2 is Rs 3.44 crore.
The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major parties give tickets to wealthy candidates, the ADR said.
Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate Ran Kaushal Pratap Singh contesting Lauriya is the richest candidate in the second phase, declaring assets worth Rs 368.98 crore.
BSP candidate Sunil Kumar Choudhary contesting from Pirpainti has declared zero assets while Suresh Rajvanshi, a Moolniwasi Samaj Party candidate fighting in Wazirganj, has declared assets worthRs 1,100.
According to ADR, 528candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between Class 5 and 12 while 627 have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. Fifteen candidates are diploma holders while 117 are just literate and nine candidates illiterate. One candidate has not given his educational details in the affidavit.
When it comes to age profile, 445 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 40 years while 680 are 41-60 years. There are 170 candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years while two have declared their age to be above 80 years.