Battle for UP: SP leads in criminal candidates in 3rd phase

Lucknow, Feb 15 Thirty out of 58 candidates fielded by the Samajwadi Party in the third phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh are from a criminal background.

According to an analysis report released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Tuesday, 25 out of 55 candidates analysed from the BJP, 23 out of 59 candidates from BSP, 20 out of 56 candidates from the Congress and 11 out of 49 candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

The Samajwadi Party again leads when it comes to candidates with serious criminal charges. The Samajwadi party has 21 such candidates while the BJP has 20, BSP has 18, Congress 10 and AAP 11.

Eleven of these candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 11 candidates, two have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376). Two candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves and 18 have cases related to attempt to murder.

On basis of the number of criminals contesting elections, 26 out of the 59 constituencies in this phase have been declared Red Alert constituencies.