As many as 48 candidates with a criminal record are contesting in the second phase of Jharkhand assembly elections scheduled Dec 2, an analysis by a voluntary organisation said.

The study was conducted by National Election Watch (NEW). Of the 259 candidates contesting for 14 seats in the second phase of elections, affidavits of 130 candidates were analysed.

'There are 48 candidates who have pending criminal cases against them as per their self-attested under oath declarations. Out of these, 23 candidates have got serious cases against them, like that of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion, causing hurt by dangerous weapons, dacoity and illegal payments in connection with an election,' a statement by NEW said.

The study revealed that all major parties have given tickets to candidates with pending criminal charges like kidnapping, murder, attempt to murder and dacoity.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) have seven such candidates each, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has five, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have four each, and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has three.

The five-phase polls for the state assembly's 81 seats began Nov 25 and will end Dec 18. Counting of votes will be taken up on Dec 23.

The study revealed that of the 130 candidates scrutinised, four candidates have declared that their assets are more than Rs. 10 million (Rs.one crore) and 70 candidates have not declared their PAN card details in their affidavits.

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