Chennai: Many by-poll candidates have criminal cases pending

Chennai: As many as 38 candidates of the five major parties contesting the Assembly by-elections in Tamil Nadu have criminal cases pending against them, according to a report released by the Movement for Electoral Reforms (MER) in Chennai on Thursday. The DMK heads the list with 15 candidates and also in the number of cases pending (63 out of the total 113).

The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by TTV Dinakaran comes second with 11 candidates facing 29 criminal cases.

The ruling AIADMK has only four candidates with six criminal cases pending-which can only be expected as given the current political ecosystem and the political dispensation favouring the ruling party, the opposition party personnel could have more cases against them out of political animosity”, said MER convenor R Rangaraj.

The MER research found that the Makkal Needhi Maiam led by actor Kamal Haasan has the lowest number of pending criminal cases against just three candidates while there are 11 cases pending against five Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) candidates.

Some of the prominent candidates with criminal cases pending are Kalaivanan Poondi, DMK (13 cases), Senthil Balaji, DMK (9 cases), RD Shekar , DMK (7 cases), Shanmugaiya, DMK (7 cases), P Vetrivel, AMMK (6 cases), Sathya S.A, DMK (6 cases), Kaathavarayan S, DMK (5), Maharajan A, DMK (4 pending).