Nominees with criminal charges galore in Bihar

IIM-Bangalore professor and Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) chairman Trilochan Sastry on Saturday admitted that election-watchers had their limitations in differentiating between the history-sheeter candidates contesting polls and political and social activists chargesheeted in various criminal cases involving some untoward incidents in course of their political and social agitations.

Attributing such a handicap to the absence of a seperate code for the political incidents in the Indian Penal Code, Sastry said as sections of the same Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) applied to both categories of wrong doers hardened criminals and those involved in criminal cases in course of their social and political activism, differentiation is next to impossible under the present laws.

Releasing a joint ADR and National Election Watch on Bihar Elections report, Sastry put forth a party-wise data of the candidates facing criminal charges contesting election in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bihar. According to the data relating to the first phase of polls released by the two organisations, 16 out of 90 Independent candidates fall under such category.

Six out of eight nominees of the ruling JD(U) in the first phase are facing criminal charges. CPI-ML (Liberation) has same number of aspirants facing criminal charges as of JD(U). Six out of 10 RJD nominees contesting first phase of elections, too, are facing criminal charges. In case of BSP, this number is of five out of a dozen aspirants. Five out of the elevan Congress nominees are facing criminal charges, while one out of two LJP nominees contesting in first phase of elections is facing criminal charges, says the report.

On the basis of the affidavits filed by candidate with the election commission, the two organizations also released the name of 23 candidates having Rs one crore-plus wealth and assets.