Tripura elections: 22 candidates have criminal cases

Agartala (Tripura) [India], Feb 10 (ANI): A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday stated that 22 out of the 297 candidates, who would be contesting in the upcoming Tripura Assembly elections, have criminal cases against them.

About 17 of these 22 candidates have serious criminal cases against them, including Martujuddin Choudhury, who has a murder case against him.

Six other candidates had declared cases related to attempt to murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against them.

Among the candidates, 11 (22%) out of the 51 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 4 (7%) out of the 59 from the Indian National Congress (INC), 2(4%) out of the 57 from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)), 2(22%) out of the 9 from the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) and 1(4%) out of the 24 from the AITC have criminal cases against them in their affidavits.

Nine BJP, 3 Congress, 2 IPFT, 1 TMC and 1 Independent candidate have serious criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means against them.

Of the total 297 candidates, 35 are crorepatis.

The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Tripura Assembly Elections 2018 is Rs 46.92 lakh, the report added.

Among the major parties, the average assets per candidate for 59 INC candidates is Rs 53.16 lakhs, 57 CPI (M) candidates have average assets of Rs 39.91 lakhs, 51 BJP candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.35 crores, 24 AITC candidates have average assets worth Rs 9.93 lakhs, 15 INPT candidates have average assets worth Rs 36.44 lakhs, 9 IPFT candidates have average assets worth Rs 23 lakhs and 25 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 7.25 lakhs, the ADR report read. (ANI)