NEW DELHI: Popularity, social service and political vendetta by rivals — these are some of the overriding reasons furnished by political parties for selecting candidates having criminal antecedents. As mandated by the Election Commission guidelines, several political parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the BJP, provided details of candidates with criminal antecedents on Tuesday.
For instance, in the case of Rajesh Kumar Sharma, fielded by the SP from Agra, the party said he has done a lot of humanitarian work and helped in many social causes. “He has also done social service during the Covid period, providing for the poor and backward people,” mentioned the form submitted by the party. Sharma has a criminal case against him.
Similarly, SP said its Meerut South candidate Mohd Adil, who has two criminal cases registered against him, “helped the poor and arranged oxygen supply during Covid. He also helped for arrangement of beds and medicine in his locality.” In fact, the SP has cited the candidates’ ‘social service during Covid’ as justification for giving tickets in most cases.
The candidate’s popularity was another common reason. The BJP, for instance, said its candidate from Meerut south Somendra Tomar has a doctorate degree and is extremely popular in his constituency. Also, he has been ‘implicated’ in a case due to political rivalry, said the party.
An analysis of details of BJP candidates with criminal background disclosed that ‘popular’ and ‘framed due to political rivalry’ are the party’s justification in most cases. The EC has created a cell to deal with matters related to information on candidates with criminal background.