25% Gorakhpur, Phulpur bypolls candidates have criminal cases against them, says ADR report

Nearly 25% of candidates contesting the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh have criminal cases against them, a report released on Monday said.

Eight out of 32 candidates contesting the bye-elections have criminal cases registered against them, Uttar Pradesh chief co-ordinator Sanjay Singh said after releasing the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report here.

He said that as far as heinous crimes were concerned, eight cases of murder and as many for attempt to murder are registered against Independent candidate from Phulpur, Atiq Ahmed.

Parivartan Samaj Party's candidate from Phulpur, Raees Ahmed also faces a case of attempt to murder, Singh said.

There are 10 candidates in the fray from Gorakhpur and 22 from Phulpur.

Polling in both the constituencies is slated for March 11.

Of the 32 candidates 11 are crorepatis and the average asset of a candidate is Rs 3.15 crore, the report said.

Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, who is contesting from Phulpur, is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 33.85 crore. Atiq Ahmed has assets of Rs 25.50 crore, it said The report also states that 21 of the total candidates are graduates or above, Singh said.

The report said that as many as 78 per cent of candidates are in the age-group of 25-50 years, while rest are in the 51-70 years age bracket.Of the 32 candidates in the fray, three are women, the ADR report said.