Delhi Election: Serious Criminal Cases Against 104 Candidates
As it was expected, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has the highest number of 36 nominees with serious charges against them.
By Rakesh Raman
Election research organizations Delhi Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveal that a total of 104 candidates in the Delhi Assembly election have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. In the previous Delhi election in 2015, the number of such candidates was 74.
As it was expected, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has the highest number of 36 nominees with serious charges against them.
The ADR report reveals that out of 672 candidates analyzed, 133 (20%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves as compared to 114 (17%) in 2015.
Election and Destruction in Delhi
This article is part of our new editorial section: Election and Destruction in Delhi. You can click here to visit this section and share its link with others.
The report adds that among the major parties, 42 (60%) out of 70 candidates analyzed from AAP, 26 (39%) out of 67 candidates analyzed from BJP, and 18 (27%) out of 66 candidates analyzed from Congress have criminal cases.
[ Also Read: Death of Democracy and Rise of Kakistocracy in India ]
In terms of declared serious criminal cases, according to the ADR report, the AAP topped the list with 36 of the 70 candidates having serious criminal cases filed against them.
Earlier, Delhi chief secretary Aanshu Prakash had filed a police complaint alleging that a couple of AAP MLAs had beaten him at the behest of Kejriwal. He was particularly apprehensive because politicians in Kejriwal’s AAP are mostly uneducated goons.
While there are multiple complaints of corruption against AAP legislators, last year the party decided to defy the notice from Delhi’s anti-corruption body Lokayukta which had asked AAP MLAs to reveal the details of their assets.
[ Also Read: How to Stop Crimes and Corruption in Delhi ]
While bureaucratic and political corruption is rampant in Delhi, the reports suggest that the office of Delhi’s Lokayukta has received 41 complaints of corruption against the AAP legislators. The complaints are against the AAP MLAs as well as ministers.
While Delhi has 70 Assembly seats, the election will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2020, and the results will be declared on Tuesday, February 11.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications and research reports on different subjects.
