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Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Elections in the fifth phase are scheduled across 60 assembly seats of the 11 districts of Amethi, Ayodhya, Bahraich, Barabanki, Chitrakoot, Gonda, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Shrawasti and Sultanpur. One seat which falls in Rae Bareli district, where voting took place on February 23, also goes to polls in this phase. The UP Election Watch and the ADR said the report is based on the analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 685 of the 693 candidates, who are contesting the polls. ` The affidavits of eight candidates could not be analysed as they were either badly scanned or incomplete, the polls reforms advocacy groups said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress for practicing dynastic politics. Speaking at a rally in Amethi, he said, “Parivarvaadis are so far from ground reality that they cannot see what is happening on the ground. They want to come in authority to increase their family’s power and rule over you like kings. Our power is not bahubali/mafia, but UP public.”

He further said, “When vaccination started, Modi did not run to get vaccinated. We got frontline workers, elderly and people with co-morbidities vaccinated first. Had ‘parivarvaadis’ been in power, they’d have broken all lines to get vaccinated first. Even my mother’s waiting for her turn for third dose.” He said that all focus of the ‘double engine’ governments in Delhi and Lucknow had been on development and welfare of the people.

Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, on Thursday, mounted a blistering attack on the BJP and said that the majority government in Uttar Pradesh seemed to be working like a king’s kingdom. “We had thought that there would be development but it seems that all dreams have remained dreams here,” he said while addressing a rally here. He further said that the BJP always frightened people by saying that this will happen and that will happen.

“Nothing will happen. This is the land of Lord Ram and there can be no danger, no threat,” he said.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in its analysis report for candidates contesting the sixth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh, has found that out of 670 candidates in 57 constituencies, 182 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Nearly 151 candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. According to the ADR report, 40 (83 per cent) out of 48 candidates from SP, 23 out of 52 candidates from BJP, 22 out of 56 candidates from Congress, 22 out of 57 candidates from BSP and 7 out of 51 candidates from AAP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

29 out of 48 candidates in SP, 20 out of 52 candidates from BJP, 20 out of 56 candidates from Congress, 18 out of 57 candidates from BSP and 5 out of 51 candidates from AAP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Eight candidates have declared cases related to crime against women and two candidates have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376).

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