DEHRADUN: For about 83 lakh voters of Dev Bhoomi of Uttarakhand, the major political parties this time have fielded 107 (17 per cent) candidates out of 632 in fray, who have declared criminal cases against themselves in the self-sworn affidavits  they have submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Interestingly, the holy Haridwar district, Congress candidate Antriksh Saini, contesting from Laksar, is the richest candidate with Rs 123 crore assets. He is followed by BJP’s Satpal Maharaj, a turncoat (he was earlier in Congress) contesting from Chaubattakhal (Pauri Garhwal), who has declared his assets to be worth Rs 87 Crore. Third among the Uttarakhand’s wealthiest candidate is Mohan Kala of the UKD party with Rs 82 crore assets, contesting from Srinagar (Pauri Garhwal district), revealed UEW and ADR report released to the media today.    

Not only this, out of the 626 candidates, 252 (40%) are Crorepatis. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, out of 637 candidates, 200 (31%) were Crorepatis.  This clearly shows the influence of muscle and money power is on the rise in elections in Uttarakhand, which came into existence in 2000.   

As is the case in UP,  in Uttarakhand the major parties cared no two hoots for directions of the Supreme Court issued in 2019  that the parties have not to allot tickets to the candidates with criminal background or cases pending against them. Will the voters reject or select these 107  candidates or they will opt for NOTA, only the election results will find answers on March 10, 2022, when ECI would count votes and declare results.   

As many as 632 candidates representing the ruling BJP, Indian National Congress, AAP, BSP and UKD are in fray.  Out of 626 candidate analyzed, 107 (17%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, out of 637 candidates analysed, 91(14%) had declared criminal cases against themselves that show that the parties are increasingly allotting party tickets to such candidates, reveal analysis done by the Uttarakhand Election Watch (UEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

UEW and ADR have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 626 candidates out of 632, who are contesting the Uttarakhand assembly elections 2022 which will be held on February 14. UEW and ADR are the civil society groups, working on electoral reforms to make “democracy vibrant, fair and free from corruption and crimes in the country”. 

As many as 61 candidates (10%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, 54 (8%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

UEW and ADR found that all the major parties have fielded significant number of candidates, who have criminal background. As many as 23 (33%) out of 70 candidates analysed from Indian National Congress(INC),  13  (19%) out of 70 candidates analysed from BJP, 15 (22%) out of 69 candidates analysed from AAP, 10 (19%) out of 54 candidates analysed from BSP and 7 (17%) out of 42 candidates analysed from UKD have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

As many as six candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 6 candidates,  one candidate has declared case related to person committing rape repeatedly on the same woman (IPC Section- 376(2)(n)), the report said.

One candidate has declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against himself. Three candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section-307) against themselves, report found.

As a result of this, ECI has declared 13 (19%) out of 70 constituencies as red alert constituencies. ECI do so when three or more contesting candidates declare criminal cases against themselves.

But UEW and ADR found that the parties have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 17% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Uttarakhand elections have given tickets to 17 % to 33 % candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Similarly, role of money power in Uttarakhand elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties 60(86%) out of 70 candidates analysed from BJP, 56 (80%) out of 70 candidates analysed from INC, 31(45%) out of 69 candidates analysed from AAP, 18(33%) out of 54 candidates analysed from BSP and 12(29%) out of 42 candidates analysed from UKD have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Uttarakhand Assembly Elections 2022 is Rs 2.74 Crores. In 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, average assets per candidate for 637 candidates was Rs.1.57 crores.  

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 70 INC candidates analysed is Rs. 6.93 Crores, 70 BJP candidates analysed is Rs 6.56 Crores, 69 AAP candidates have average assets of Rs 2.95 Crores, 42 UKD candidates have average assets of Rs 2.79 Crores and 54 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs. 2.23 Crores.

UEW and ADR  say that a per these mandatory guidelines, the reasons for such selection has to be with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned. The parties have ready-made and unfounded reasons to justify the selection: They plead that the “candidates are popular, do good social work and cases are politically motivated”.

UEW and ADR reject these “no cogent reasons” for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds. “This data clearly shows that political parties have no interest in reforming the electoral system and our democracy will continue to suffer at the hands of lawbreakers who become lawmakers”, assert NEW and ADR.

Out of 632 candidates who are in fray for Vidhan Sabha- 2022, the UEW say that they did not analyse six candidates as their affidavits were either badly scanned or complete affidavits were not uploaded on the ECI website.