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National
AHMEDABAD: Of the 359 candidates in the fray in 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat, 69 have criminal records. According to data compiled by the Gujarat Election Watch, a part of the National Election Watch organisation monitoring the candidates in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, all the parties have candidates with criminal records; topping the list was the BJP with 11 of its 26 candidates having criminal records, followed by the Congress with a close 10. The Bahujan Samaj Party, which fielded 24 candidates, has four. Three come from the newly-formed Mahagujarat Janata Party, which has put up candidates in 16 constituencies. The 69 candidates together have 136 criminal cases registered against them, of which 48 cases were of a serious nature, including charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion and such others. Though Gujarat had a reasonablly good record in law and order compared to many other States, 19.22 per cent of its candidates have criminal records. Among the individual candidates, Vithhalbhai Radadiya, with 16 cases listed against him, topped the list of candidates with criminal records. While he has five cases of a serious nature, Janata Dal (united) nominee for the Broach parliamentary seat Chhotubhai Vasava has 13 such cases against him. The GEW considers as “Red Alert constituencies” those which have three or more candidates with criminal records; there are 16 such constituencies; Junagadh tops the list, with six of its candidates figuring in police records, followed by five in Navsari, four each in Rajkot, Broach, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad east, and three each in Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Banaskantha, Surat, Bulsar, Vadodara, Kutch and Ahmedabad west. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms and the GEW, which compiled the data furnished by the candidates in their affidavits while filling their nomination papers, 47 candidates in the fray have wealth over Rs. one crore, with the highest being the BSP nominee for the Surendranagar seat, Khimjibhai Patadia, with assets of over Rs. 514 crore. But incidentally, though Mr. Patadia is a builder, he does not have a PAN number. Of the 47 “crorepatis,” the Congress has fielded 17, the BJP 12 and the MJP four, but incidentally 204 of the 359 candidates do not have PAN numbers. The brighter side is that 115 of the total candidates are graduates or above. Corrections and Clarifications:The sixth paragraph of a report "69 of the 359 candidates in the fray in Gujarat have criminal records" (April 26, 2009) said that Khimjibhai Patadia, with assets of over Rs. 514 crore, is the BSP nominee for the Surendranagar seat. Official records say Mr. Patadia is an independent. (The BSP candidate for Surendranagar is Patel Mohanbhai Dahyabhai.)
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