In phase 2 of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, 25.78 lakh voters will decide the fate of 238 candidates, 49 of whom have criminal charges against them. Out of these, 37 are dealing with serious criminal charges such as attempted murder and crimes against women, according to a report from the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) .
ADR analysed 872 out of 873 affidavits of candidates for the ongoing J&K election, excluding independent candidate Sarajan Ahmad Wagay from Beerwah for lack of complete documents. Of these, 152, or 17% of the total, have criminal charges against them. Phase one of the polling, which took place on September 18, saw criminal records on 26 of the 219 candidates. In the third and last phase, 67 of 415 candidates face criminal charges, with 57 of them charged with serious offences. At least 12 candidates have disclosed charges of attempted murder, while 15 have declared involvement in crimes against women, including three who face rape charges
In its report, ADR remarks that the directions of the Supreme Court look toothless as parties continue to give tickets to candidates with criminal charges.
“The Supreme Court in its directions dated 13th February, 2020 had specifically instructed political parties to give reasons for such selection and why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates,” ADR noted.
The 17% figure in J&K election is lower than the 46% of candidates with criminal cases in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Out of the 26 constituencies going to the polls in phase 2, 8 have been cited by ADR as ‘red alert’ constituencies, where 3 or more candidates face criminal charges.
The ADR analysis also notes that the “role of money power in our election is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates.” Rs.9.13 crore is the average assets for the 62 BJP candidates. J&K National Conference has a Rs.8.26-crore average for its 56 candidates. Congress and the People’s Democratic Party are also not behind with an average of Rs.8.08 crore for 39 candidates and Rs.5.27 crore for 80 candidates respectively.
The participation of women is also low, the analysis suggests. Among the 873 candidates contesting, only 43 are women, which is about 5 in every 100 candidates. Half of them are fighting independently.
Another bracket under consideration is educational qualification. As per the report by ADR, 407 candidates have declared their qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard. The others have listed themselves as having a graduate degree or above.
