In the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, 340(21%) out of 1594 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Among these candidates, 230(14%) out of 1594 have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.  13 candidates have declared cases related to murder. 29 candidates 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. 26 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech.

Party-wise candidates with declared criminal and serious criminal cases

Among Congress’s candidates, 27% (24 of 90) face serious criminal charges. Around 27% (26 of 97) of BJP candidates are accused of serious criminal charges. 10% (9 of 92) of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 27% (6 of 22) of the Shiv Sena, 32% (6 of 19) of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), 50% (5 of 10) of Nationalist Congress Party, 40% (4 of 10) of Samajwadi Party and 44% (4 of 9) candidates from All India Trinamool Congress face serious criminal charges.

The highest proportion of candidates facing criminal charges are from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

As many as 58 candidates from Gujarat have various criminal charges registered against them. Even BJP chief Amit Shah, contesting candidate from Gandhinagar has charges of criminal intimidation against him. In his poll affidavit filed a month ago, the BJP supremo declared that he had not been convicted in any of the cases filed against him.

In Uttar Pradesh, 24 out of 120 candidates in the fray have been charged with criminal cases against their names. A maximum number of criminal cases were registered against the SP candidate from Rampur, Mohammad Azam Khan.

Richest candidates

The richest candidates in terms of assets include Devendra Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and Udayanraje Bhosale of Nationalist Congress Party. The former has assets worth more than Rs. 204 crore and the latter more than Rs. 199 crore.

Supriya Sule of Nationalist Congress Party from Baramati in Maharashtra has declared income of more than Rs 1 crore. She has declared business as her source of income. There are 11 candidates who have no assets. The candidate who has declared the least assets is Sreejith PR, an independent candidate from the Wayanad constituency of Kerala. He has a bank balance of Rs 120.

Educational Qualification

Of 1,594 candidates, 788 (49%) had educational qualification between 5th and 12th standard.  681 (43%) candidates have a graduate degree or above. As many as 57 (3.6%) candidates are barely literate and 23 (1.4%) are illiterate.