Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Nearly 13% candidates in phase 3 have serious criminal cases

New Delhi: Around 13 per cent of candidates in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections have serious criminal cases registered against them, while 29 per cent are crorepatis, according to an analysis by private election watchdog Association for Democratic Rights.

Analysing all the 1,352 candidates in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 7, it said 172 candidates have serious criminal charges against them, which included five with murder charges and 24 with attempted murder cases.

It said 38 candidates have cases pertaining to crime against women, including two with rape charges against them. When it comes to party-wise candidates, Congress and BJP have 14 candidates each with serious criminal charges.

The ADR report also said that there are 392 crorepatis among candidates in the third phase with BJP having 77 such candidates, followed by Congress (60).

While five candidates have declared that they have no assets, BJP's South Goa candidate Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo is the richest with assets worth Rs 1,361.68 crore, followed by BJP's Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna) with Rs 424.74 crore and Congress' Kolhapur candidate Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji has declared Rs 342.86 crore worth assets.

Incidentally, the poorest candidate is also from Kolhapur -- independent Irfan Abutalib Chand who has just Rs 100.

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