Concerns over criminal involvement in politics are highlighted by the first phase of Bihar’s elections, where 27% of candidates are accused of serious offenses. Of the 1,314 hopefuls for 121 seats, a significant portion faces allegations including murder and rape.
Data compiled from candidate affidavits shows that 423 candidates have declared criminal cases. Within this group, 354 are charged with serious offenses. The report specifically notes 33 candidates facing murder charges and 86 accused of attempted murder. Furthermore, 42 candidates are linked to crimes against women, with two disclosing rape charges.
The prevalence of criminal charges varies by party. All candidates from the CPI (Maxist) in the first phase are facing serious allegations. CPI and CPI (Marxist-Leninist) also report high percentages at 80% and 64% respectively. Among larger parties, RJD has 60% of its candidates with serious charges, followed closely by BJP at 56% and Congress at 52%.
Examining overall criminal records, RJD leads with 76% of candidates declaring cases, followed by BJP and Congress at 65%. Both CPI and CPI (M) have 100% of their candidates with declared criminal cases. JD(U) has 39%, AAP 27%, and BSP 20%.
Financially, the electoral field is rich, with 40% of candidates being ‘crorepatis’ and the average declared wealth standing at Rs 3.26 crore. While educational backgrounds are varied, women represent a mere 9% of the total contestants.