Among the major parties, 5 candidates facing criminal cases are from BJP. Two are from Congress, three from Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) & four from AAP.

Of the 223 candidates contesting the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, 26 have criminal cases against them, with the highest cases from the Bharatiya Janata Party (5), a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) revealed on Friday.

Among the major parties, five candidates facing criminal cases are from the BJP. Two are from the Congress, three from Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and four from the Aam Aadmi Party, the report said.

“16 have declared serious criminal cases against themselves,” the report read.

Further, 46 candidates are crorepatis, with the highest number of crorepatis from the Congress (14), followed by the BJP (3), and the AAP (3), the report said.

The average assets declared per candidate contesting the Phase I Chhattisgarh Assembly elections is Rs.1.34 crores, the report mentioned.

The report further revealed that 25 female candidates are contesting in the first phase of the polls scheduled for November 7.

Moreover, of the total 223, 115 candidates declared their educational qualifications to be between 5th and 12th standard, while 97 candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.

“Five candidates are diploma holders. Four have declared themselves to be just literate, and one candidate is illiterate. One candidate has not given his educational qualification,” the report noted.