NEW DELHI: K. Surendran, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Kerala's Pathanamthitta parliamentary constituency, has declared 240 criminal cases against himself, topping the list of those with criminal records contesting the general elections.
Hailing from Kasaragod, he is one of the state BJP General Secretaries.
According to the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 129 of the charges in these cases are of serious nature.
The second highest number of criminal cases was declared by the Congress candidate Dean Kuriakose from the Idukki constituency in Kerala.
He has 204 criminal cases pending against him, in which he faces 37 charges of serious nature.
Atiq Ahmad, who is contesting as an Independent from Varanasi, came in the third place with 80 serious charges in the 59 cases against him and BJP's Bapu Rao Soyam, contesting from Adilabad in Telangana, is fourth with 55 serious charges in the the 52 cases he faces.
With 19 serious charges in the 42 cases against him, the Congress' Telangana candidate Anumula Revanth Reddy is fifth in the list.