Lok Sabha elections 2019: 35 BJP candidates with criminal records in first list
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its first list of 184 candidates on March 21. But, surprisingly of the 184 contenders, 35 leaders have been found with criminal records. The hidden truth has been disclosed by myna.info, a website that analyses the self-sworn affidavits of the candidates who are in the fray for the Lok Sabha polls.
The 35 BJP candidates with criminal records are also among the 78 candidates who have been re-nominated during this Lok Sabha as well. Other 106 candidates could not be analysed because they haven’t yet filed their nomination papers along with self-sworn affidavits which show the number of criminal cases registered against a candidate.
Sources confirmed that the number of candidates with criminal cases registered against them may rise once the remaining 106 new candidates file their nominations.
According to the myneta.info, the candidate who had the highest number of criminal cases filed against him till 2014 was Hansraj Gangaram Ahir from Maharashtra’s Chandrapur constituency. There were a total of 11 criminal cases filed against him till the last Lok Sabha elections. Ahir is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha and currently serves as the MoS Home Affairs.
Sarangi had ten criminal cases filed against Pratap Sarangi from Odisha’s Balasore
Interestingly, Nitin Gadkari who is the current Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is also featured in the list. Gadkari, till 2104, had five criminal cases filed against him.
The BJP’s first list also has 18 female candidates, who will be anaylsed.
In 2014, Association for Democratic Reforms' (ADR), analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 542 of 543 winners in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and found that BJP led the chart with as many as 98 winning candidates (35%) out of total 282.
The study also found that a candidate with a criminal background was almost twice more likely to win than a candidate with no criminal background. The winning chances of a candidate with criminal background were 13%, while those of a candidate with no criminal background were 5%.
