INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bihar election watch (BEW), a wing of Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), has released data revealing that most of the political
parties have fielded candidates with criminal cases for the ongoing assembly elections in Bihar.The report released by the ADR shows that
per the data, in the first phase of polls, out of 1066 candidates in the fray, 327 had declared criminal cases
The data also reveals that 104 candidates did not inform the public about the pending cases against them.In the second phase of polls
scheduled on November 3, the percentage has gone up from 31 to 34 per cent
Political parties in this phase have fielded 891 candidates with criminal cases out of which 389 have serious criminal cases pending against
them.Similarly in the third phase of polls,which is to be held on November 7, out of 1204 candidates in the fray 653 candidates have
alliance partner in Bihar, has topped the list followed by the BJP, the Congress, LJP and JD(U).Data revealed that 115 candidates in the
fray have declared cases related to crime against women
Out of these, 12 candidates have rape charges pending against them
At least 73 have murder charges pending against them.The ADR in its report adds that the direction of the supreme court had no effect on the
political parties in the selection of candidates as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 32 per cent
candidates with criminal cases
Supreme Court in its directions on February 13, 2020, had specifically instructed political parties to furnish reasons for selection of such
As per the mandatory guidelines, the reason for such selection has to be with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit of the
work, cases are politically motivated cases etc are not sound and cogent reasons for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds
The data clearly shows that political parties have no interest in reforming the electoral system and our democracy will continue to suffer
