27pc Congress candidates, 19pc BJP candidates in first phase face serious criminal charges: ADR

Twenty-seven per cent of the Congress candidates and 19 per cent of the BJP candidates fielded for the first phase of Lok Sabha election, to be held on Thursday, have serious criminal charges registered against them, according to an analysis by ADR India, an advocacy group.

The two national parties have fielded 83 candidates each for the first phase of the election.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded eight candidates in the first phase, of which three, which comes to around nearly 38 per cent, have serious criminal charges registered against them, said a statement by Association of Democratic Reforms.

The candidates have made self declaration about their pending serious criminal charges.

Six candidates of the Nationalist Congress Party are in the fray, of which two, nearly 33 per cent, have serious criminal charges registered against them.

Of the five candidates fielded by Trinamool Congress, none face criminal charges.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded 32 candidates in the first phase of the election. Nineteen per cent face serious criminal charges.

The Communist Party of India has fielded eight candidates, of which only one has serious criminal charge registered.

Ninety-one Lok Sabha seats across 20 states and Union Territories will go to polls on Thursday.