Chhattisgarh Assembly elections 2023: Nearly 10% of candidates in second phase face criminal cases, report shows
According to a report by the Chhattisgarh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Friday, out of 953 candidates analyzed, 100 (10 percent) candidates have declared a criminal case against themselves.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: At least 10% of the 953 candidates contesting the second phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections have criminal cases pending against them, with more than half of these cases involving serious crimes such as voluntarily causing pain, cheating and criminal intimidation.
This data was released on Friday, November 10, 2023 by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW). The report shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the highest number of candidates with criminal cases, with 13 of the 90 candidates having criminal cases filed against them. The Indian National Congress (INC) is closely monitoring the elections, with ten of the ninety candidates having a criminal record, according to a report by news agency PTI.
Report by Chhattisgarh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
According to a report by the Chhattisgarh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Friday, out of 953 candidates analyzed, 100 (10 percent) candidates have declared a criminal case against themselves.
A total of 958 candidates will contest the second phase of the Chhattisgarh elections, but the report did not analyze five candidates because their affidavits were poorly scanned or complete affidavits were not uploaded to the Election Commission of India website.
Chhattisgarh Assembly elections: First round held
Elections for 20 of the total 90 assembly seats in the state were held on November 7, while the remaining 70 constituencies will go to polls in the second phase on November 17. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.
Among major parties, 13 (19 percent) candidates of Congress, 12 of BJP, 11 of Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and 12 (27 percent) of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have declared criminal cases. their statements, it said.
In the ruling Congress, seven (10 percent) of the seventy candidates have serious criminal cases against their names, while this figure is four (6 percent) out of 70 for the opposition BJP, four out of 62 for the JCC (J. ) and six of 44, or 14 percent, for AAP.
Sixteen (23 percent) of the 70 constituencies going to the polls in the second phase will face three or more candidates with declared criminal cases, the report said.
These are Korba, Lormi, Jaijaipur, Raipur Rural, Mahasamund, Beltara, Patan, Katghora, Akaltara, Durg City, Dharsiwa, Kasdol, Bhatapara, Manendragarh, Jashpur and Bemetara.
According to the report, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (Patan), Jaisingh Agrawal (Korba), Devendra Yadav (Bhilai Nagar), Vikas Upadhyay (Raipur City West), Atal Shrivastav (Kota) of Congress have declared criminal cases, while in the BJP, former ministers Rajesh Munat (Raipur City West), Dayaldas Baghel (Navagarh), Saurabh Singh (Akaltara) and OP Choudhary (Raigarh) have criminal cases.
Amit Jogi (Patan) of the JCC (J), among others, has declared criminal cases, the report said. In the first phase of polls, 26 of the 223 candidates had criminal cases, of which 16 faced serious offenses.
(With input from agencies)