A total of 210 candidates contesting in phase four of the Lok Sabha elections face criminal charges, with 158 having serious cases and 12 of them convicted cases, according to the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Five candidates have declared cases related to murder, 24have declared cases related to attempt to murder, four have declared casesrelated to kidnapping, 21 have declared cases related to crime against womenand 16 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech.
The ADR has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 928 out of943 candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha phase four across 71 constituenciesin eight states.