Lok Sabha election 2024: Analysis of Candidates contesting in phase 5 polling
The Hindu
Analysis of Lok Sabha candidates reveals high percentage with criminal cases, crorepatis, and lack of female representation in elections.
For the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and The National Election Watch analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 695 contenting candidates and found that 159 (or 23%) of them have declared criminal cases against themselves, 122 of which have serious criminal cases against them. 29 candidates have cases related to crime against women and 28 have cases related to attempt to murder, as shown in the table below.
Among the two major national parties, over 40% of the candidates of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) have criminal cases against them. The graph below shows the party-wise share of candidates who have criminal and serious criminal cases declared against them.
The map below shows the percentage of candidates with criminal cases in each of the constituencies going on poll during the third phase. The top constituencies with the largest share of contesting candidates with criminal cases are Mohanlalganj (45.45%) in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai South (43%), Chatra (41%) in Jharkhand, Dhule (39%), and Gonda (37.5%) in Uttar Pradesh.
The map below also shows the State-wise share of contesting candidates that have criminal cases against them. States with the highest share of candidates with criminal cases are Jharkhand (33%), Odisha (30%), and West Bengal (24%).
Of the total assets of candidates analysed among the national parties, over 90% of BJP and 83% of Congress candidates are crorepatis. Among major State parties, all candidates of SP, Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar), and RJD are crorepatis, as shown in the chart below.
The box plot below showcases the distribution of assets of candidates of major parties. Among the national parties, the median assets held by BJP candidates is the highest at ₹8.6 crores, while that of Congress candidates is ₹3.7 crores.
The median of the total assets owned by independent candidates of all States, barring Ladakh, is below ₹50 lakhs as shown in the box plot below.
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