A new report indicates a rise in 'red alert' constituencies in the West Bengal Assembly elections, with a significant number of candidates facing criminal charges.
Forty-two of the 102 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the general election's first phase are constituencies that have three or more candidates facing criminal cases, according to a poll rights body.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch reveals that nearly 23% of candidates in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Of the 114 constituencies going to polls in the first two phases in Uttar Pradesh elections, 41 are red alert constituencies -- they have three or more candidates with criminal records. According to the record of the candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic reforms, 36 per cent of the constituencies in the first two phases of UP polls are red alert ones. Of the 41 red alert constituencies, 28 have three candidates with declared criminal cases.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveals that a significant number of candidates contesting the first phase of the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves.
33 candidates face cases of murder, 86 candidates face cases related to attempted murder, 42 candidates have cases related to crimes against women with two of them facing rape cases.
While two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, the death toll climbed to four on Thursday after the recovery of two more bodies from the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site in Kangra district.
29 per cent candidates have declared assets worth Rs 10 million or more in the third phase.
So far, over 30 people have died across Northeastern states due to heavy rainfalls, floods and landslides, according to media reports.
Negi's remarks came after Kangana shared images of her visit to a flood-devastated region of her home state.
Sixteen per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of Assam assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
China appears determined to upgrade Pakistan's military capabilities, sufficient to ensure local parity with India, alerts former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
Due to heavy rains and waterlogging over the tracks at several locations on South Central Railway network, as many as 99 trains were cancelled and four trains were partially cancelled while 54 trains were diverted, an SCR official said.
BJP tops the list with 27 tainted candidates
A total of 130 candidates with serious criminal cases against them including related to murder will contest in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 12.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
The Association for Democratic Reforms in its report has stated that Maharashtra's Beed district tops the list of red alert constituencies with 9 tainted candidates contesting the elections.
Lakhs of voters will have to bear the searing heat when they step out to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Of the 137 candidates having criminal records, 78 candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and rape.
According to the report, 32 (73 per cent) out of 44 candidates analysed from the Rashtriya Janata Dal have declared criminal cases against themselves and 22 (50 per cent) of them have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said efforts are on to rescue the 300 stranded people, and they could be airlifted as the weather clears. Power and water supply has been snapped in several areas.
The Association for Democratic Reforms came out with the figures in a report after analysing affidavits of the candidates of 12 Lok Sabha seats that are going to polls. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 160 points on Thursday in choppy trade following gains in select banking and auto counters amid mixed global cues. The 30-share index gained 160 points to settle at 62,570.68 as 13 of its components advanced while 17 declined. The barometer opened lower but later gained momentum to touch a high of 62,633.56 in the day's trade.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting 88 seats out of the total 89, tops this list among major political parties in the fray with 36 per cent of its candidates having criminal cases. Thirty per cent of its candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, among others, the ADR said in its report. The number of candidates having criminal cases fielded by the AAP is 32.
There are a total 623 candidates in the fray, and affidavits of eight of them could not be analysed because they were either badly scanned or incomplete, the ADR said.
A total of 553 crorepatis are in the fray in the Tamil Nadu elections to be held this month, while 283 have declared criminal cases against themselves, a report said on Tuesday.
In 2017, a retired R&AW officer conveyed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was keen to get monarchy restored in Nepal and suggested that I support these efforts.
The flooding in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra has left people without homes and brought about destruction worth crores.
Whenever they are announced, the bypolls to 20 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will be a mini referendum on the state government's performance. It will also be a do-or-die battle for the ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK, as well as the rebel AMMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty retreated from over one-week highs to close lower on Wednesday due to profit booking in banking, IT and metal stocks amid weak global trends. After a two-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 90.99 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 57,806.49 in volatile trade. As many as 19 of its constituents declined while 11 advanced. The broader Nifty slipped by 19.65 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 17,213.60 with 31 of its stocks ending in the red.
Residents in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra continue to struggle as floods leave them in a watery hell.
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
With heavy security deployment in hyper-sensitive areas of Bastar region ahead of polls, Naxalites are apparently trying to change their course of action and mobilising cadres to town areas to attack "soft targets" outside their core hold, intelligence sources said.
While the BJP demanded that the polls in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency are countermanded, the Congress alleged that the apartment belonged to a BJP leader.
Every vote now counts in the Tamil Nadu assembly, as the ruling party is walking on a wafer-thin majority. The Opposition DMK-led combine has 98 MLAs on their side, and with four others who had won on the AIADMK's 'Two Leaves' symbol in 2016 but do not belong to the party, per se, playing hide-and-seek with the party leadership, Dhinakaran with two or three other MLAs can give sleepless nights for the ruling party than their post-verdict celebrations may seemingly indicate, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
It's a close fight between the Election Commission trying its hardest to prevent Tamil Nadu's electoral malpractice and the political parties out to buy votes at any cost, says B Srikumar.
The National Rifle Association aims to shoot down Vivek Murthy's Senate confirmation as United States Surgeon General, Aziz Haniffa reports
We reproduce Aditya's letter to Rajdeep Sardesai in its entirety:
