A total of 252, or 16%, of the 1,618 candidates contesting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections have criminal cases against them, non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms said in a report on Monday.

The organisation analysed the affidavits of 1,618 out of 1,625 candidates who are contesting in the first phase in 21 states.

The report showed that 161 persons have declared serious criminal cases registered against themselves.

Of the 252 candidates with criminal cases, seven have declared cases related to murder, 19 have cases of attempted murder and 18 are accused of crimes against women. Of the 18, one has declared cases related to rape.

Among the major parties, 22, or 36%, of the 77 candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party and 19, or 34%, of Congress candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

All four candidates of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, 13 of 22 candidates from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and three out of the seven candidates from the Samajwadi Party also have criminal cases against them.

Of the five candidates fielded by the Trinamool Congress for the first phase, two are accused in criminal cases. The number stands at 13 out of 36 candidates for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and 11 out of 86 candidates for the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The Association For Democratic Reforms also said that 42, or 41%, out of 102 constituencies going to polls in the first phase are red alert constituencies. A constituency is classified as “red alert” if three or more candidates contesting there have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Asset analysis

The report also included analyses of the share of wealth among the candidates and showed that 450, or 28% of the 1,618 candidates have declared assets worth over a crore.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal’s four candidates have stated that they have assets worth over Rs 1 crore. A total of 69 of the 77 candidates of the BJP and 49 of the 46 candidates of Congress are also crorepatis.

Of the 36 candidates fielded by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, 35 have assets worth over a crore and for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the number is at 21 of the 22 named candidates. Of the five candidates named by the Trinamool Congres, four are crorepaties. Eighteen of the Bahujan Samaj Party’s 86 candidates have assets worth over Rs 1 crore.

Of all the candidates contesting in the first phase, 573, or 35%, have said that they have assets worth lesser than Rs 10 lakh. There are 10 candidates who have declared zero assets.

The top three candidates with the highest declared assets are Nakul Nath, Ashok Kumar and Dhevanathan Yadav T.

Nath, a Congress candidate with total assets worth over Rs 716 crore, will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara. Kumar will contest from Tamil Nadu’s Erode on an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ticket. He has assets worth over Rs 662 crore. Yadav, a BJP candidate from Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga, has assets worth over Rs 304 crore.