In the inaugural phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a total of 1618 contenders vied for victory, with 256 of them, constituting 16%, carrying the burden of criminal allegations against themselves. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the pack in terms of criminal charges, closely trailed by the Congress, AIADMK, and the Samajwadi Party (SP). Notably, a mere 8% of the contestants, amounting to 135 individuals, were women.
A report released on Monday by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a body dedicated to electoral reform, shed light on the prevalence of criminality among candidates. The findings revealed that a significant portion of candidates from various political factions had criminal cases against them. For instance, all four candidates from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) faced criminal charges, while the proportion stood at 59% for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), 43% for the SP, and 40% for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). The BJP led in sheer numbers, with 36% of its candidates entangled in legal troubles, followed closely by the AIADMK with 36%, the Indian National Congress (INC) with 34%, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 13%.
A breakdown of the criminal allegations reveals a disturbing trend, with seven candidates facing charges related to murder, 19 involved in attempted murder, and 18 implicated in crimes against women, among others.
Geographically, Tamil Nadu emerged as the hotbed of candidate criminality, boasting 138 individuals, or 15% of its candidates, with criminal records. Uttar Pradesh followed suit, with 28 candidates, comprising 35% of its total, facing similar charges.
Turning to the financial aspect, a staggering 12% of candidates reported assets exceeding Rs 5 crores, while 9% fell within the Rs 2-5 crores bracket. The majority, comprising 35% of the contestants, declared assets below Rs 10 lakhs.
The RJD distinguished itself as the party with the highest percentage of wealthy candidates, with all four of its nominees classified as ‘crorepatis’. Other parties boasting a high percentage of affluent candidates included the AIADMK (97%), DMK (96%), BJP (90%), INC (88%), Trinamool Congress (TMC) (80%), and BSP (21%). The average asset value per candidate for the Lok Sabha phase I election stood at a staggering Rs. 4.51 crores.
Delving deeper into party-wise averages, candidates from the AIADMK reported the highest average assets at Rs. 35.61 crores, followed by the DMK at Rs 31.22 crores, INC at Rs 27.79 crores, BJP at Rs 22.37 crores, RJD at Rs 8.93 crores, SP at Rs 6.67 crores, and AITC at Rs 3.72 crores.
Among individual candidates, Nakul Nath of the Congress, scion of former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, topped the wealth charts with declared assets exceeding Rs 716 crores. He was closely followed by Ashok Kumar of the AIADMK, with assets valued at Rs 662 crores, and Dhevanathan Yadav T of the BJP, with assets worth Rs 394 crores.
Conversely, the candidates with the lowest declared assets were all independents, with Ponraj K, Suriya Muthu, and Kartik Gendlalji Doke reporting assets ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 500.
