570 candidates with criminal cases in 3rd phase polls

New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) A whopping 570 candidates out of a total 1,612, who are contesting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, have declared criminal cases against them, according to Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) data published on Friday.

The ADR data was published after screening the candidates' self-sworn affidavits.

The data cites that among the major parties, 40 out of 90 Congress candidates and 38 out of 97 candidates of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) have criminal cases amongst them. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has the least number of candidates with criminal cases against them.

Fourteen candidates have declared that they have been convicted.

Thirteen candidates have declared murder cases against them, 29 have declared cases related to crime against women such as rape, assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty, against themselves.

Only 26 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech.

According to the data, 63 out of the 115 constituencies have been put in the "red alert" category, where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Apart from criminal cases, the affidavits of candidates were also screened on financial and education background.

The ADR concluded in its report that 392 candidates have declared personal wealth in crores.

The Samajwadi Party's Kumar Devendra Singh Yadav has declared Rs 204 crore in his total assets. He is followed by Bhonsle Shrimant Chhatrapati of the National Congress Party, with assets worth Rs 199 crore.

The report also estimates that an average Rs 2.95 crore have been identified in the declaration of every candidate, who has declared wealth in excess of Rs 1 crore.

The third phase polls will be held on April 23.