60 tainted names in Jharkhand phase-II assembly poll

RANCHI: Politics and crime go hand in hand in Jharkhand, going by declarations made by candidates. While the first phase of the assembly election saw 92 with criminal charges run for office, the trend continues with 60 such candidates contesting in the second phase on December 2. The charges include serious crimes of rape, murder and inciting communal violence.

A report by Jharkhand Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found 60 of 223 found 60 of 223 candidates contesting the 20 seats in the second phase have criminal charges pending, with 42 of them facing grave charges.

State Trinamool Congress president Bandhu Tirkey, contesting from Mandar constituency , has 10 criminal cases to his name. Ramlal Munda, an Independent fighting from Chakradharpur, stands accused in a case of sexual assault. Banna Gupta of Congress contesting from Jamshedpur East has been booked for an alleged attempt to spark communal disharmony by defiling a place of worship.

Five candidates (two of BJP and one of JMM) have murder charges against them while as many as 10 are under trial for murder attempts.

BJP tops the list with 12 tainted candidates out of 18.Nearly 40% of Shi Nearly 40% of Shibu Soren's JMM candidates face criminal charges while Babulal Marandi's JVM(P) has 20% tainted candidates.Four of 20 Congress candidates have also been booked in some case or the other.

"Though the percentage of tainted candidates (27%) in second phase has dipped marginally from the first (28% of 199), the report shows there is no dearth of tainted candidates in Jharkhand," said Sudhir Pal, ADR's state convener.