For the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have fielded an almost equal number of candidates against whom 'serious criminal cases' are registered.
21 SP candidates have serious criminal cases
According to a report by the UP Election Commission and Association for Democratic Refugees (ADR), 21 (36.20 percent) out of 55 SP candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
BJP has 20 candidates with serious criminal cases
BJP has 20 (36.36 percent) such candidates. According to the report, out of a total of 627 candidates for the third phase of assembly elections, 103 (17 percent) have declared serious criminal cases with a maximum punishment of five years or more.
BSP has 18 criminal cases candidates among other major political parties
18 out of 59 candidates from Bahujan Samaj Party (31 percent), in Congress out of 56 candidates (18 percent), and 11 out of 49 candidates from Aam Aadmi Party (22 percent) have declared serious criminal cases in their affidavits.
Serious crimes include charges such as kidnapping and murderAccording to groups advocating for electoral reforms, serious crimes include kidnapping, murder, crimes against women, corruption, electoral crimes are registered against candidates.
Meanwhile, the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections has been done successfully the district recorded a 59.87% turnout in votes. The first phase of polls covered 58 assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state. These districts include Shamli, Meerut, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Mathura.
Also, the state held its second phase of polling on 14th Feb. The second phase covered nine districts which are Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Badaun, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, and Shahjahanpur. BJP and SP are the main competitors in the polls.