New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) As many as 154 candidates in the first round of the six-phase Bihar assembly elections are facing criminal charges, according to a report by NGOs monitoring elections

“There are 154 candidates who have pending criminal cases against them as per their self-attested under oath declarations. Out of these, 97 candidates have got serious cases against them, like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion, causing hurt by dangerous weapons, dacoity,” the report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), a group of more than 1200 NGOs.

The details were furnished after the NEW analysed the documents of 446 candidates of total 622 candidates contesting in the first phase of polls Oct 21.

“Out of these 154 candidates, 98 candidates have declared serious charges like murder and attempt to murder against them. Three candidates (one from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two independents) have declared that they have pending cases related to rape,” the report said.