Out of 115 candidates contesting from 27 Bengaluru Urban constituencies, 38 have criminal cases against them, according to a report released by BPAC and DAKSH, two civil societies. The report has considered candidates from the BJP, the Congress, the JD(S), and the AAP, along with a select few independent parties for its analysis.
While 11 such candidates are from BJP, 10 from Congress, nine are from AAP, five from JD(S), and three from other parties. While three candidates have murder, culpable homicide or death by negligence cases against them, seven candidates have rioting cases and two have money laundering cases against them. The highest number of candidates, 17, have been charged with unlawful assembly.
“We want to bring greater awareness among citizens about criminal cases against the contesting candidates. This exercise is primarily aimed at educating the voter about the criminal antecedents of each candidate and we have also gone deeper to show what type of cases have been filed so citizens can make intelligent choices. We hope that citizens, using the power of their ballot, ensure that no politician with serious criminal background gets elected,” said Revathy Ashok, CEO, BPAC.