More than 50% of candidates from the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress contesting the Maharashtra Assembly Elections have criminal records

• More than half of the BJP, INC, NCP and Shiv Sena candidates fielding the Maharashtra Assembly Election have criminal records.
• BJP is the worst offender with more 69% of its candidates with criminal cases registered against them.
• When it comes to serious criminal cases, like crimes against women and attempted murder, Shiv Sena leads the pack.

The Maharashtra Assembly Elections aren’t as exciting as they used to be and the quality of candidates seems to be wavering too.

More than half the candidates contesting the elections from some of the major parties in India have criminal cases registered against them.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed 3112 of the 3237 candidates fighting in the Maharashtra Assembly Election across all 288 constituencies.

They found that while the incidence of crime was high, two-thirds of the overall contestants have committed serious crimes.

Serious crimes a subset of criminal cases where the offence is not bailable and the minimum punishment is at least five years in jail.

No one to point fingers

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the worst of the pack with 59% its candidates having criminal records. And, 36% of them fall under the ambit of serious offences.

Its ally, the Shiv Sena, projects a more dangerous image with 61% criminal candidates and 48% — which is still half of the contesting candidates — having committed serious crimes.

The opposition isn’t any position to point fingers either.

Majority of the candidates from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — 57% and 63%, respectively — also have criminal cases registered against them.

But they do have fewer candidates with serious crimes registered against them. As many as 30% of INC candidates and 35% of NCP candidates fall into the category.

Overall, the incidence of candidates with a criminal history has increased by 5% — from 798 to 916 candidates between 2014 to 2019.

The increase in serious crimes in nearly just as high at 4% — from 537 to 600 candidates between 2014 to 2019.

See also:
A third of Maharashtra’s MLA candidates are crorepatis and BJP has 96% of them

The top ten richest MLA candidates in Maharashtra election together are worth ₹2400 crore