Lok Sabha election 2024: Analysis of Candidates contesting in phase 5 polling

For the fifth 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.

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Criminal records of candidates from major state and national parties

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 fifth 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.

Campaigning ends for fifth phase of Lok Sabha poll

The chart 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%).

Over 80% of the contesting candidates of major parties are crorepatis

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.

The map below shows the share of contesting candidates who are crorepatis, constituency-wise. In 8 constituencies, at least 50% (or half the contesting candidates are crorepatis. Six of these eight constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh. Namely, Kaiserganj (100%), Lucknow (70%), Rae Bareli (50%), Jalaun (50%), and Gonda (50%).

Over a fifth of the constituencies do not have any female candidates

Out of the nearly 50 constituencies going on polls tomorrow, 11 of them do not have any female candidates contesting as shown in the map below.

The graphs below show the share of male and female candidates contesting during phase 5 of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Among the national parties, the number of female candidates contesting are just in single digits.