GUWAHATI, March 30 - Of the 539 candidates who are in the fray for the first phase of Assembly elections in the State, nearly 5 per cent of them have declared charges of serious nature, including murder, crime against women and abduction, against them.
In total, six per cent of the total number of candidates contesting the ensuing polls is facing criminal charges of various nature.
Partywise, Congress has the highest number of candidates (8) with self-declared criminal cases against them, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) with three each.
Percentage-wise, the Congress has fielded 12 per cent candidates with criminal charges for the first phase of polls, followed by the AIUDF which stands at 11 per cent. Of the 27 candidates the AIUDF has fielded for the first phase, three are charged for criminal offences. Of the 280 Independent candidates, five per cent have criminal background.
These were revealed by a report published and released today by Tasaduk Ariful Hussain of the Associated of Democratic Reforms at the Guwahati Press Club here.
In all, 10 per cent of the sitting legislators have criminal charges against them.
BJP candidate from Thowra, Kushal Dowari has two cases of serious nature, including that of murder and attempt to rape, along with Independent candidate Janardhan Hazarika of Amguri constituency who is also facing murder charge.
The ADR has earmarked three constituencies � Karimganj North, Cachar and Hailakandi � as red alert constituencies, as three or more candidates with criminal cases are in the fray.
Meanwhile, the ADR also informed that voters can send SMS to 56070 by typing MYNETA or to get the details of the candidates and their criminal and financial background.
