Chandigarh, Oct 4 (IANS) At least 67 candidates, contesting the Haryana assembly elections, have criminal cases pending against them for murder, attempt to murder and extortion, an NGO said here Sunday.
“We have scrutinized the affidavits of 489 candidates of political parties contesting the Haryana assembly polls. We have proofs that 67 of them have criminal cases pending against them,” said Anil Bairwal, national coordinator of National Election Watch (NEW), an umbrella organisation of nearly 1,200 NGOs.

“Very soon we will disclose the details of remaining Haryana candidates,” Bairwal told IANS.

In the polls slated for Oct 13, a total of 1,222 candidates from around 50 political parties are contesting for 90 assembly seats.

Bairwal said of the 67 candidates, around 24 have serious cases like murder and attempt to murder against them.

“Both INC (ruling Indian National Congress) and HJC (Haryana Janhit Congress) have 14 candidates each with pending criminal cases. The INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) have 12 candidates each,” he said.