Assam Elections 2021: 41 candidates in 1st phase have criminal cases against them

GUWAHATI: A total of 41 out of 259 candidates in the fray for the first phase of Assam assembly elections 2021 have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, who is contesting as independent from Sivasagar, has the highest number of cases, 52, registered against him. Another independent from Bokakhat, Dulal Bora, has 25 cases registered against him. Dhing AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam has four cases against him.

Of the 41 candidates, which is 16 per cent of the total, 34 candidates have serious criminal cases registered against them. Two candidates have declared cases related to murder (Section 302 IPC) against themselves.

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The data have been published by Assam Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms after analysis of affidavits of 259 candidates. Five candidates, who have filed nominations till date, have not been analysed because of improper upload of their affidavits. A total of 267 candidates filed nominations for the first two phases.

Four of the candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (Section 307 IPC) against themselves.

The study has also found three out of the 47 as red alert constituencies: Red alert constituencies are those where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. They are Bokakhat, margherita and Biswanath Chariali.

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Among the major parties, 10 out of 43 candidates analysed from Congress, eight out of 41 candidates analysed from Assam Jatiya Parishad, three out of 39 candidates analysed from BJP and one candidate each from NCP, Asom Gana Parishad and SUCI(C)have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.  

As far as serious criminal cases are concerned, nine out of 43 Congress candidates, six out of 41 AJP candidates, three out of 39 BJP candidates and one candidate each from NCP, AGP and SUCI(C) have declared cases against themselves in their affidavits.  

Five of the candidates also have declared cases related to crime against women. Of them, one candidate has declared cases related to rape (Section 376 IPC).