Of the 1,618 candidates in the fray in phase one, 16 per cent or 252 candidates are named in criminal cases, with 10 per cent or 161 candidates facing serious criminal charges
Nakul Nath, the son of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, is the richest candidate contesting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election, as per Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Nath, who is contesting from Chhindwara constituency, has declared assets worth Rs 716 crore in his election affidavit.
In 2019, Nakul Nath won his maiden election from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat by over 37,000 votes against BJP's Nathan Shah. The senior Nath had won from this constituency in 2014 by 1.16 lakh votes against the BJP's Chandrabhan Singh.
Following Nakul Nath closely is AIADMK's Ashok Kumar from Erode, Tamil Nadu, with declared assets worth over Rs 662 crore. The third-richest candidate in phase one is BJP's Dhevanathan Yadav T, contesting from Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, with assets worth Rs 304 crore.
BJP's Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah, running from Tehri Garhwal, stands at the fourth spot with assets worth Rs 206 crore. BSP's Majid Ali is on the fifth position with assets declared at Rs 159 crore.
Of the 1,618 candidates in the fray in phase one, 16 per cent or 252 candidates are named in criminal cases, with 10 per cent or 161 candidates facing serious criminal charges, according to the analysis of their affidavits by the organisation.
Seven candidates have murder cases lodged against them, while 19 are implicated in attempt to murder cases.
Eighteen candidates have declared in their affidavits cases related to crimes against women, and one of them, faces rape charge under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the ADR, which did the analysis along with National Election Watch, a coalition of civil society groups for domestic election monitoring, said. The organisation said that 35 candidates are linked to cases of hate speech.
The analysis showed that 42 or 41 per cent of the 102 seats scheduled to go to polls in the first of the seven-phase elections are “red alert” constituencies.
“Red alert” constituencies are those where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.
The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases starting from April 19 to June 1 while the counting of votes will take place on June 4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bid for a third consecutive term.
