Criminal offenses among Haryana Election 2019 candidates on the rise — accusations of rape, attempted murder and rioting

• Candidates with criminal records contesting the Haryana Assembly Election has increased from 94 to 117 individuals between 2014 to 2019.
• Five candidates are accused of crimes against women and another five are accused of attempted murder.
• Sirsa and Rohtak (Mehem constituency) have the highest number of candidates with criminal records.

It’s been five years since Haryana’s last Assembly Election and the number of candidates with criminal cases registered against them has only increased.

In 2014, only 7% of the candidates had criminal cases declared against them. Come 2019, it has increased to 10%, according to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

This is an increase of 53 from 94 candidates during the last election to 117 in the upcoming election.

Even when it comes to serious criminal cases the percentage of candidates has increased from 5% in 2014 to 6% in 2019. These are crimes, which are not bailable and can result in at least five years of jail.

Specifically, five candidates are accused of crimes against women — including two candidates who were accused of rape. Another five are accused of attempted murder.

Criminals and their offences

Amongst the national parties contending the elections, Indian National Congress (INC) leads the pack with the 13 candidates with criminal cases. This makes up for 15% of the party’s candidates who will be eligible on the polls.

INC is followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has 12 candidates with criminal cases registered against them.

But, BSP comes in ahead of INC when looking at serious criminal cases with 9 candidates. Tayub Husain of the BSP is one such candidate accused of rape, kidnapping, criminal intimidation and rioting.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, only has three candidates with a criminal record — one with a serious criminal case registered against them. BJP’s criminal count is the lowest amongst the national political parties.

Overall, 11 of the 117 candidates with criminal accusations have even convicted of the crimes registered against them.

‘Red Alert’ constituencies

According to ADR’s report, 15 out of 90 constituencies where elections will take place are ‘Red Alert’ constituencies. These constituencies have at least three or more contesting candidates with criminal cases registered against them.

Sirsa and Rohtak — in the Mehem constituency — have the highest number of criminal candidates with 18 aspirants. Gurgaon and Charkhi Dadri constituencies are on their coat tails with 16 candidates accused of crime.

See also:
The top richest Haryana Vidhan Sabha Election 2019 candidates are worth ₹1,200 crore

Over 40% of Haryana Assembly Election 2019 candidates are crorepatis