Ravikant Singh of Quami Ekta Dal, contesting from Varanasi North constituency, has the highest number of serious charges (6). He is closely followed by Abdul Samad Anasari of Samajwadi Party, also contesting from Varanasi North constituency, with five serious charges and Chandra Kumar Mishra of Bahujan Samaj Party from Varanasi Cantt constituency with four serious charges.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Uttar Pradesh Election Watch (UPEW) has released their reports with analysis of criminal, financial and other details of candidates contesting from different constituencies of Varanasi and other districts going to poll in the third phase of UP assembly elections. Releasing the report on Tuesday, Jagdeep Chhokar and Lenin Raghuvanshi said the UPEW analyzed 48 out of 149 candidates contesting the elections in Varanasi district. Out of the 48 candidates analyzed, 26 (54%) have declared criminal cases in their affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India at the time of filing their nomination. Out of the 26 candidates, 13 candidates declared that they faced serious criminal charges like murder, attempt to murder, theft and extortion.
According to report, 23 out of 48 (48%) candidates in Varanasi district are crorepatis. Ashfaq of SP contesting from Varanasi Cantt constituency has the highest assets worth of Rs 6.07 crore followed by Harshvardhan of Indian National Congress from Sevapuri constituency with Rs 4.28 crore and Ravindra Jaiswal of Bharatiya Janata Party from Varanasi North constituency with Rs 3.70 crore.
Besides, the UPEW also analyzed affidavits of 317 candidates out of 1,029 candidates who are contesting the third phase of assembly elections. Out of these 317 candidates, 121 candidates (38%) declared criminal cases against them. Among these 121 candidates Brijesh Singh alias Arun Kumar Singh of Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party contesting from Saiyadraja constituency in Chandauli has declared maximum number of criminal cases. He has declared 39 criminal cases including 57 serious IPCs. He is followed by Atiq Ahmad of Apna Dal contesting from Allahabad West constituency with 44 criminal cases and 26 serious IPCs and Ajay Prakash Singh of Peace Party from Lambhua constituency with 21 cases and 18 serious IPCs.
Among major parties, every party has given tickets to candidates who have declared criminal cases. SP has 30 out of 56 (54%), BSP has 21 out of 56 (38%), BJP has 25 out of 55 (46%), INC has 16 out of 52 (31%), Peace Party has 4 out of 7 (57%), JD(U) has four out of 34 (12%), candidates with declared criminal cases. Out of these 121 candidates with declared criminal cases, 61 (19 %) have declared serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion. The BJP has 11, BSP has 10, SP has 18, Peace Party has three, INC has eight, JD(U) has one, Quami Ekta Dal has three and Apna Dal has five such candidates.
A total of 122 candidates out of 317 analyzed for the third phase are crorepatis. The candidates with maximum assets in thirrd phase are Nand Gopal of BSP from Allahabad South constituency with assets worth Rs 95.26 crore followed by Tanveer of INC from Bhadohi with Rs 21.20 crore and Atiq Ahmad of Apna Dal from Allahabad constituency with assets worth Rs 20.79 crore. Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for SP is Rs 1.99 crore, BSP Rs 3.68 crore, BJP Rs 1.39 crore, INC Rs 2.18 crore, Peace Party Rs 1.71 crore, JD (U) Rs 22.98 lakh, Quami Ekta Dal Rs 68.81 lakh and for Apna Dal is Rs 1.33 crore.
According to report, out of 1,029 candidates, only 78(8%) candidates are women. The number of women candidates from BSP is 4(7%) out of 56, BJP 6(11%) out of 55, INC 3(6%) out of 52 and SP it is 5(9%) out of 56.
