Key candidates for Kerala poll have 943 criminal cases against them

Trivandrum - Maximum number of 685 cases is pending against the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates.

Candidates of the three major fronts contesting the May 16 assembly elections in Kerala have 943 criminal cases pending against them in various courts and police stations across the state.
According to a statement from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's office on Thursday, maximum number of 685 cases is pending against the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates. Of these 617 cases are faced by the candidates of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which heads the LDF.
The statement prepared on the basis of self-affidavits filed by the candidates before the Election Commission along with their nominations said the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) candidates had 106 cases pending against them. The number of cases pending against the Congress that heads the UDF is 79.
The data was collected after opposition leader V S Achuthanandan had alleged that the chief minister and his colleagues in his ministry had as many as 131 cases. He said that Chandy himself had 36 cases pending in the Supreme Court. While the statement said that there was not even a single case pending against the chief minister anywhere in the state, there were six cases pending against Achuthanandan.
Five of these are defamation cases and one related to a violent protest in front of the state secretariat at Trivandrum. His colleague and chief ministerial prospect, Pinarayi Vijayan had 11 cases, including the SNC Lavalin corruption case, pending against him in various courts. According to the statement, Vijayan was the sixth accused in the SNC Lavalin case pending in the CBI court at Trivandrum. The is related to a loss of Rs3.75 billion the state suffered from a deal Vijayan inked with Canadian firm SNC Lavalin for the repair and renovation of three hydro-electric projects during his term as Electricity Minister in 1996.
The statement further said that the candidate with maximum cases pending against him is Nikesh Kumar, who has entered the poll fray for the first time. Nikesh, who is contesting the election from Azhikode in Kannur district, has as many as 57 cases pending against him. Majority of them is cheque bouncing cases.
The other candidate with maximum case is Kadakampally Surendran, who has entered the fray at Kazhakoottam in Trivandrum. He is grappling with 45 cases. The other CPM candidates with more cases (number of cases in bracket are): K K Lathika (32), V Sivankutty (31), V Salim (26), Benoy Kurian (25), Antony John (24), M A Rasheed (22), E P Jayarajan (21) and M Swaraj (20).
The statement showed the candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its new found ally Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) grappling with 152 cases. The statement cited the large number of cases against the CPI (M) and the BJP-led fronts as a clear indication of the violent politics they pursue in the state.
About 43 per cent of the candidates fielded by UDF, LDF and BJP for the last Assembly elections in 2011 had criminal cases pending against them. Analysis of the self-attested oath declarations made by 418 candidates by Election Watch Kerala showed that 178 had criminal cases pending against them.
Out of those 178 candidates, 33 candidates had got serious criminal cases against them such as attempt to murder and extortion. The Lok Sabha elections held in 2014 had as many as 74 candidates with criminal cases, including 31 with serious criminal charges.

• India