Mumbai: A good number of candidates running for Lok Sabha seats have criminal cases against them, and among them are well-known individuals such as Medha Patkar of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP); Kirit Somaiya and Gopal Shetty, both from the BJP; Sanjay Nirupam, a Congress candidate; film star Rakhi Sawant; Rahul Shewale of the Shiv Sena and Sanjay Dina Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party.

This was revealed by the Maharashtra Election Watch (MEW) — a partnership between the Action for Good Governance and Networking in India (AGNI), the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and mumbaivotes.com — which released candidate profiles that touched on their financial affairs and other background details, as well as criminal records.

The profiles have been made available to the electorate as part of efforts to inform them, with the information in the candidates’ profiles having been culled from affidavits presented to the Election Commission of India and posted on its website. The cases against candidates cut across all party lines.

The charges levelled against 23 out of 140 aspiring lawmakers in Mumbai and Thane include voluntarily causing hurt in an effort to deter public servant from carrying their duties, criminal intimidation, unlawful assembly and mischief resulting in damages of at least Rs50.

Eighteen candidates are facing serious charges attracting jail terms of five years of more and for which the offence eliminates the granting of bail. The charges they are facing range from assault, murder, kidnapping, rape and other crimes mentioned in the Representation of People’s Act.

Sawant is facing a criminal charge related to a breach of trust and another of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property.

In Thane, out of the 26 candidates analysed, three candidates — one from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, one from the Shiv Sena party and an independent — have criminal cases against them.

On the financial front, the BJP’s Poonam Mahajan Rao and Congress’s Priya Sunil Dutt — who are running for the Mumbai North Central seat — are the richest candidates with total assets worth Rs1.08 billion (Dh65.6 million) and Rs655 million respectively. Both are daughters of well-known politicians.

Poonam’s father was senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan while Priya’s father was veteran actor, minister and MP Sunil Dutt. Both are deceased.

Also contesting from their constituency is Abu Farhan Azmi, son of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi, with assets totalling Rs637 million whilst Mahadev Shinde, an independent running for the Mumbai South Central seat, has assets valued at Rs535 million.

Bollywood actress and dancer Rakhi Sawant, contesting from Mumbai North West on a Rashtriya Aam Party ticket, has declared assets worth Rs146.9 million.

The AAP’s Meera Sanyal, contesting from Mumbai South, and Satish Jain own assets worth Rs509.4 million and Rs201.9 million respectively.

Gurudas Kamat, a Congress candidate, has declared assets worth Rs488.8 million while Milind Deora declared assets worth Rs408 million.

Of the 140 candidates, 56 of them are millionaires and this figure includes all five Congress candidates, all three BJP candidates, two NCP candidates and four Shiv Sena candidates.

On an educational level, 68 candidates reached 12th grade while 61 are graduates and above. Only three have declared that they are illiterate.