UP Polls Phase 4: BJP fields 19 candidates with crime records; SP, Cong follow

Lucknow: The pre-poll analysis of the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on February 23, claims that out of a total of 680 candidates contesting for 53 constituencies spread across 12 districts, 116 (17 per cent) have declared criminal cases against them.

According to the analysis of Uttar Pradesh election watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), among the 116 candidates with criminal background, 95 have mentioned serious charges against themselves, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc.

BJP has fielded most number of candidates with criminal background (19), followed by SP (13), BSP (12), RLD (9) and INC (8). Out of a total of 200 Independent candidates, 24 have declared criminal cases against themselves.

A total of 189 candidates from 98 political parties, including 6 national parties, 5 state parties, 87 unrecognised parties and 200 independent candidates, are crorepati, said the ADR report.

The report states, "45 out of 53 candidates from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 36 out of 48 from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 26 out of 33 from Samajwadi Party (SP), 17 out of 25 from Indian National Congress (INC), 6 out of 39 candidates from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and 25 of 200 Independent candidates have declared their net worth more than Rs 1 crore."

Independent candidate Subhash Chandra is the richest among all the candidates with total assets of over Rs 70 crore, followed by BJP's Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi (over Rs 57 crore) and Mohammed Masroor Shaikh (over Rs 32 crore) of BSP. A total of 171 candidates, however, have not mentioned their PAN details in their affidavit.

Revealing the educational details of the 680 candidates, ADR stated 268 candidates have declared their qualification to be between 5^th and 12^th, while 367 have declared to have a graduation degree or above. As many as 36 candidates have declared themselves to be literate, while 6 have claimed to be illiterate.

A total of 493 candidates are aged between 25 and 50 years, while 180 are between 51 and 80 years. Seven candidates have not mentioned their age in their affidavits.

Sixty female candidates are also in fray for the 53 constituencies of 12 districts scheduled to go for polls in the fourth phase of UP polls on February 23.