Guwahati: Out of 375 candidates examined, 21 (6%) candidates in Meghalaya had filed criminal charges against themselves, according to a research by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Out of the 370 candidates in the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections that were examined, 25 (7%) had filed criminal charges against themselves. In contrast, there will be a 1% decrease in criminal history candidates in the 2023 Assembly elections.
According to the ADR report, 4% (15) of candidates have filed significant criminal charges against themselves. Significantly, 6% (21) of candidates in the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections had major criminal convictions against them.
According to the ADR report, among the major parties, the INC had 5 (8%) out of 60 candidates with declared criminal cases against them, NPP had 6 (11%) out of 57 candidates with declared criminal cases against them, BJP had 1 (2%) out of 60 candidates with declared criminal cases against them, and AITC had 3 (5%) out of 56 candidates with declared criminal cases against them.
According to the number of candidates from each party who have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, INC has the most such candidates with 4 (7%) out of 60 candidates, 4 (7%) out of 57 candidates from the NPP, 1 (2%) out of 60 candidates from the BJP and 2 (4%) out of 56 candidates from the AITC.
In the ADR report, the group of candidates with serious offences filed against them is further broken down. Two candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302), three candidates have declared cases related to self-inflicted attempted murder (IPC Section-307) and five candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of five candidates, one candidate has stated a case involving rape (IPC Section 376) and another candidate has stated a case involving someone who has repeatedly raped the same woman (IPC Section 376(2)(n).
Parties have continued to choose candidates for the Meghalaya Assembly elections in 2023 despite orders from the Supreme Court, sticking to their previous practise of granting tickets to about 6% of candidates who had pending criminal charges.
In Meghalaya, all of the major parties running for office have offered tickets to 2 to 50% of the candidates who have filed criminal charges against themselves.
Political parties were particularly directed by the Supreme Court to provide justifications for such selections and explain why other people without a criminal history couldn’t be chosen as candidates in its directives of February 13, 2020.
According to these obligatory standards, the qualifications, accomplishments and merit of the candidate in question must be cited as justifications for the selection.