Come February 7, voters of 19 constituencies in Delhi will have their pick of multiple candidates who have criminal charges against them.
The Association for Democratic Reform has found in its report, released on Friday, that 19 Delhi Assembly segments are “red-alert constituencies” as three or more candidates have pending criminal charges.
Tughlakabad in South Delhi tops the list of red-alert constituencies, with five candidates facing criminal charges. This includes Aam Aadmi Party’s Sahi Ram, Congress’ Sachin and BJP’s Vikram Bidhuri. West Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and Tilak Nagar both have four candidates each who have criminal cases against them.
ADR founder member Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar said: “This goes to show what option the voters have if there are five candidates with cases in one constituency.”
Out of 673 candidates, 114 have cases against them, with 74 being serious charges. The Congress candidate up against BJP’s Kiran Bedi in Krishna Nagar, Bansi Lal, is the only contender facing a murder charge. There are five attempt to murder charges, eight crimes against women offences and four dacoity and robbery charges against the candidates.
The BJP has fielded the most candidates with serious charges at 25 per cent, followed by the Aam Aadmi Party at 20 per cent and the Congress at 16 per cent.
