Bihar Election 2025: 32% of phase one candidates have criminal records, says ADR

JD(U) Candidate Anant Singh has many cases against him. (File Image)

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The campaign for the Bihar Election 2925 phase one came to an end Tuesday evening, and the polling will be held Thursday, November 6. Elections will be held for 121 seats spread across 18 districts in the first phase. A total of 1,314 candidates are in the fray for the phase one polling. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch have said in a report that out of 1,314 candidates in the first phase, 423, or 32%, of them have declared criminal cases against themselves. An analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 1,303 out of 1,314 candidates contesting the polls on November 6 has shown that 354, or 27% of them, face serious criminal charges. According to their affidavits, 33 candidates are accused of murder, and 86 face charges of attempted murder.

General ADR report Bihar polls

Such candidates are in almost every party. However, the left parties top the list of those fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds. While CPI and CPI(M) have 100%, CPI(ML) has 93%. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has 76% candidates with criminal cases, followed by BJP and Congress with 65% each, LJP (Ram Vilas) with 54%, and JD(U) with 39%. AAP’s 27% of candidates face criminal charges. Prashant Kishore-led Jan Suraaj Party is not far behind, with 44%, or 50 out of 114, of its candidates having declared criminal cases. The JSP is contesting the Bihar Election for the first time. 

General Crorepati candidates Bihar polls

The ADR and Bihar Election Watch have also found in their study that most of the candidates of these parties are billionaires. The JSP tops the list. The average assets per candidate for 114 candidates of this party is Rs 5.72 crore. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) comes second, as 89 BSP candidates have Rs 1.77 crore on average. The average asset of 70 RJD candidates is Rs 10.37 crore, while 57 JD(U) candidates have an average asset of Rs 8.75 crore. 

General Criminal cases in Bihar election

The 48 BJP candidates have an average asset of Rs 11.30 crore. Among others, 44 AAP candidates reported Rs 1.57 crore, 23 Congress candidates Rs 5.85 crore, 14 CPI-ML candidates Rs 81.57 lakh, 13 LJP (Ram Vilas) candidates Rs 10.88 crore, 5 CPI candidates Rs 4.83 crore and 3 CPI(M) candidates Rs 1.73 crore.

General What is ADR?

The ADR is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization. It works in the area of electoral and political reforms. Its objective is to improve governance and strengthen democracy. It aims at decriminalisation of politics, empowerment of the electorate and bringing transparency, accountability, and inner-party democracy to the functioning of political parties.

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