- The race for 294 seats in West Bengal will start with voting over eight rounds from March 27-April 29.
- Even though there has always been much talk about political candidates and their criminal history, this year’s assembly election once again sees candidates who have criminal cases on their names.
- In fact, 6 out of 30 constituencies are ‘red alert’ as they have three or more candidates with criminal records.
Whether it is Mamata Banerjee's bid for a third consecutive term as West Bengal Chief Minister or the Bharatiya Janata Party's challenge to Trinamool Congress' rule in the state— candidates with criminal charges against them continue to remain important players in their respective teams.
There are 294 seats in the Bengal state assembly, the polling for which will take place between March 27 and April 29.
As per data released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), out of 171 candidates analysed fighting the elections in Phase 2, 43 (25%) candidates had declared criminal cases while 36 (21%) had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
In fact, 6 out of the 30 analysed constituencies by ADR are put on ‘red alert’ as they have three or more candidates with criminal records.
Here’s a look at the parties and their top candidates with most criminal cases, as per Association of Democratic Reforms.