Lagatar24 Desk
Lucknow, Feb 21: As the fifth phase of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh progresses, the Samajwadi Party is leading the race with the most candidates with criminal records.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) study, roughly 42 of the 59 SP candidates have a criminal past.
The Apna Dal has fielded seven candidates, four of them have criminal backgrounds, while the BJP has 25 candidates with criminal records out of 52. There are 23 criminal candidates in the BSP, and a comparable number in the Congress. In this phase, ten of the 52 candidates put forth by AAP had a criminal record.
In their affidavits, 29 out of 59 candidates from the SP, 2 out of 7 candidates from the Apna Dal, 22 out of 52 candidates from the BJP, 17 out of 61 candidates from the BSP, 17 out of 61 candidates from the Congress, and 7 out of 52 candidates from the AAP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Twelve candidates have stated that they had been victims of crimes against women. One contestant, out of a total of twelve, has declared a rape case (IPC Section-376). Eight candidates have disclosed crimes of murder (IPC Section-302) and 31 candidates have declared cases of attempted murder (IPC Section-301) (IPC Section-307).
A total of 39 of the 61 constituencies in the fifth phase have been declared as Red Alert constituencies, on the basis of the number of criminal candidates.
