BJP complains to Chhattisgarh poll authority, claims Cong candidates haven't disclosed criminal records

Raipur: The opposition BJP in Chhattisgarh has filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Raipur seeking action against 83 Congress candidates, claiming they have not furnished their criminal record details to the Election Commission within 48 hours of their selection.

The Congress, however, claimed the BJP was levelling false allegations against the ruling party candidates.

A Congress spokesperson said they have not given tickets to people with 'criminal tendencies' and that they will fulfil the criteria laid down by the Election Commission.

The Congress has so far declared candidates for 83 out of the total 90 seats in the state which will go to polls in two phases on November 7 and 17.

In the complaint submitted to the CEO on Saturday, the BJP has cited the Supreme Court's order, according to which political parties must submit to the Election Commission the criminal antecedents of candidates within 48 hours of their selection, BJP's state legal cell convener Jaiprakash Chandravanshi in a statement.

The Congress neither submitted the criminal records of its 83 candidates to the EC nor published it on the party's website, social media or in two newspapers, including a national and a local, which amounts to violation of the apex court's order, he claimed.

The list of Congress candidates who have not declared their criminal records has been enclosed with the complaint seeking appropriate action against them for alleged contempt of the SC's orders, Chandravanshi added.

When contacted, state Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur said their party has not given tickets to people with 'criminal tendencies', and alleged that it is the BJP's character to protect criminals and field them in elections.

The BJP has been levelling false allegations against Congress candidates who have a 'clean image', he said.

"We will fulfil the criteria laid down by the Election Commission," the Congress leader said.

Voting in 20 assembly constituencies out of the total 90 will be held in the first phase on November 7 for which filing of nominations ended on Friday.

Candidates from the Congress, BJP and other parties have filed their nominations for the first phase and it is mandatory for the nominees to disclose their criminal antecedents, if any, in the nomination papers.