Criminal record no hurdle for Bihar assembly ticket

Out of 87 BJP candidates, 41 have criminal cases pending

trithesh

Trithesh Nandan | October 4, 2010



Assembly elections in Bihar look set to be a mob war of sorts for political fiefdom. Neraly half of the candidates - who have disclosed relevant data - have criminal backgrounds, some with cases pending.

Of the 183 on whom such data is available, 80 are have been accused of anything from extortion to murder. A report brought out by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch reveals that most political parties have fielded candidates with criminal records.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leads the gang with 41 of 87 candidates fielded being tainted by crime. The nominee from Chanpatia, West Champaran, Satish Chandra Dubey, has 13 cases of murder, theft, extortion against him.

Not far behind is Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)with 8of 38 candidates with criminal charges against them. Shankar Singh, the candidate from Rupali, Purnea does the rounds of courts in 36 different cases.

33 percent of candidates from JD(U), 31 percent from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and 24 percent candidates from the Congress were found to have pending criminal cases against them. 

The report also said that several of these charges are serious, like murder, criminal intimidation, assault, wrongful restraint, etc.

The analysis is done on the data collected from the 2005 election.

“The effort to rid the election arena of criminal elements has to start with political parties first and this they can do by denying tickets to aspirants with criminal record. To the extent they fail to do that they are merely shirking their responsibility and betraying the Nation,” said N. Gopalaswami, former CEC and a member of National Election Watch (NEW).

Suresh Kumar Sinha, retired judge of Patna High Court and a member of NEW asked, “How will the law and order situation improve if there are these candidates that will sit in our Vidhan Sabha? People today are looking for clean, honest and capable candidates, the parties are betraying people’s trust.”

The six-phase elections in 243-member Legislative Assembly in Bihar are scheduled from October 21.
 

Comments

 

Other News

CAG flags major fiscal lapses in Maharashtra

Maharashtra`s fiscal management has come under sharp scrutiny after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its State Finances Audit Report for 2024-25, flagged significant budgetary inefficiencies, accounting irregularities, understatement of key fiscal indicators and widespread governanc

The health sector research we are not doing

Some neglect is loud. This kind is quiet. It sits in research never commissioned, data never collected, questions never asked. In South Asia, that quiet has let the region’s worst health problems stay understudied, underfunded, and out of sight of those who could act.  

Study flags accessibility and last-mile challenges on Mumbai Metro Aqua Line

Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line), the city`s first fully underground metro corridor and one of its largest public transport investments, represents a major engineering achievement and has been widely welcomed by commuters. However, the overall commuter experience continues to be constrained by accessibili

Centre intensifies preparedness as El Niño threat looms

Amid uncertainty in the southwest monsoon due to the potential impact of El Niño, the government is addressing the situation with comprehensive preparedness, a clear strategy, and strong ground-level action. While challenges remain, the entire system has been activated in advance and is working proa

India is crossing a climate threshold

On June 28, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 41.3°C, four degrees above the seasonal normal. But the “feels like” temperature, which factors in humidity, showed more than 51°C. What the body experienced was very different from what the thermometer recorded.  India`

The Geography of India’s inflation

India today finds itself in an unusual position. At a time when geopolitical conflicts, trade fragmentation, and supply-chain disruptions are reshaping the global economy, the country`s macroeconomic fundamentals remain relatively upwards. Growth remains among the highest in the world, inflation has larg





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter