In an age when the collusion between crime and politics is such that it’s difficult to tell them apart, Himachal Pradesh seems like an anachronism. One of the few states with clean politics and low crime rate, Himachal can claim another credit when it comes to the coming Assembly elections: a close scrutiny of the affidavits filed by the candidates before the Election Commission reveals that there’s not a single case of heinous crime like murder, culplable homicide, rape or robbery against any candidate.

Still, it’s not a blemish-free record. Fifteen per cent of the candidates from a total of 336 contesting the elections, have criminal cases pending against them. These include 39 candidates charged with wrongful restraint/confinement and 13 with cheating and forgery, while 15 have cases relating to criminal intimidations against them. The only exception is Sada Nand Chauhan, an LJP candidate, who has a case relating to attempt to murder, beside cases of forgery, criminal intimidation, unlawful assembly and death threats. Chauhan is a sitting MLA contesting the election for the third time.

The Himachal Pradesh Election Watch, a non-political organisation that has compiled a report on the candidates to ensure transparency, claims that 37 per cent of BJP candidates have criminal cases pending against them. The Congress candidates include Asha Kumari, a former minister contesting from Banikhet, Sudhir Sharma (Baijnath ) in Kangra and Chander Shekhar contesting from Dharampur.

“The cases are political and mostly include wrongful restraint, obstruction to public servants from performing their duties, breach of peace, disobedience to order, criminal intimidation and kidnapping,” says P.R. Ramesh, coordinator of the HP Election Watch. The report, says Ramesh, will be submitted to the Election Commission to ensure greater accountability and transparency in public life.

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