They are supposed to ensure that the streets in our city remain clean but many of them have stained personal records.

As many as 71 contestants for the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections — out of 630 — are accused of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and possessing explosives.

While filing the nomination forms for the civic polls, candidates are required to submit Proforma B, in which he or she is has to fill up details of any criminal case pending against them in the past six months.

“On the basis of the information filled up by the candidates, we forward the cases to the senior superintendents of police of the areas concerned. We put such cases on speedy trial, which is normally finalised within the next six months. However, a candidate is not barred from contesting the election except when one is declared ‘wanted’ in a criminal case,” said Arvind Kumar Tiwari, the district returning officer.

He added that if a candidate is found guilty of hiding details of criminal antecedents, he or she can be debarred from contesting elections. The candidature of two PMC aspirants was cancelled three days ago on this ground.

But there are many in the poll fray with criminal cases pending against them. For instance, Krishan Murari Yadav, a councillor from ward number 27 for the past 10 years, has cases of murder, attempted murder and violations of explosive substances act against him. But this has not deterred him from contesting the civic polls for the third consecutive time.

In ward number 1 of the corporation area, five candidates have criminal cases against them. Present councillor Sanjay Kumar Singh is accused under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging duty) and 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code among other charges.

Leading the pack, however, is mayor Afzal Imam, who has many cases pending against him. (See chart) But he is unwilling to attach too much importance to them. “All the cases against me are very old. That is history. We should look forward to a better future,” Iman told The Telegraph.