Voters of 41 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh must be in a fix over choosing their representatives in the assembly election. The reason? Three or more candidates in each of these constituencies have criminal record, giving them limited choice to select an honest and capable candidate.

In a report jointly released by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and Uttar Pradesh Election Watch, based on an analysis of 114 constituencies undergoing polls in first and second phase of assembly elections, it has come out that 41 (36 percent) constituencies have three or more candidates from major parties with declared criminal cases against them.

According to the report, out of these 41 'red alert' constituencies, 28 constituencies have three candidates with declared criminal cases, 10 constituencies have four such candidates, two have five candidates having criminal record, and in one constituency all of the six analysed candidates have criminal cases against them.

All candidates analysed from Mehdawal constituency in Sant Kabir Nagar district have declared criminal cases in their affidavits. They include candidates from Peace Party, JD (U), SP, INC, BJP and BSP.

Kushi Nagar district has highest number of candidates i.e. 21 (50%) out of 42 analyzed, who have declared criminal cases in their affidavits submitted to the election commission amongst the districts going for polls in the first  and second phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2012.