Press Release: Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other Details of Candidates

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Press Release

Date: March 30, 2026

Dear Friends,

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Puducherry Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 291 out of 294 candidates, who are contesting in the Puducherry 2026 Assembly Elections. Out of 294 contesting candidates, 34 are from National parties, 63 are from State parties, 80 are from registered unrecognized parties and 117 candidates are contesting Independently.

This report also includes Analysis of Assets Comparison of Re-Contesting MLAs in the Puducherry Assembly Election 2026

The full reports in English and Hindi can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/Analysis-of-Criminal-and-Financial-background-details-of-contesting-candidates-in-Puducherry-2026-Assembly-elections

Party	Total Contesting Candidates	Total Contesting Candidates Analysed	Candidates with declared Criminal Cases	% of candidates with declared criminal cases	Candidates with declared serious criminal cases	% of candidates with declared serious criminal cases	No. of Crorepatis	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
National Parties	34	33	9	27%	2	6%	27	82%
State Parties	63	62	12	19%	10	16%	31	50%
Registered Unrecognized Party	80	79	26	33%	15	19%	28	35%
Independent	117	117	19	16%	11	9%	33	28%
Total	294	291	66	23%	38	13%	119	41%

Table: Party Category Wise Details

Summary and Highlights

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of the 291 candidates analysed in Puducherry Assembly elections 2026, 66(23%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, out of 323 candidates analysed, 54(17%) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 38(13%) have declared serious criminal cases. In 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, 28 (9%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Figure: Comparative analysis of Candidates with declared Criminal Cases: 2021 vs 2026

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,3(14%) out of 21 candidates analysed from INC, 4(25%) out of 16 candidates analysed from All India N.R. Congress, 6(50%) out of 12 candidates analysed from DMK and 5 (50%) out of 10 candidates analysed from BJP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,2(10%) out of 21 candidates analysed from INC, 3(19%) out of 16 candidates analysed from All India N.R. Congress and 5 (42%) out of 12 candidates analysed from DMK have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Candidates with Criminal Cases

Candidates with declared cases related to crime against women: 3 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women.

Candidates with declared cases related to murder: 2 candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves.

The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 23% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 have given tickets from 14% to 50 % candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves. The Supreme Court in its directions dated 13th February, 2020 had specifically instructed political parties to give reasons for such selection and why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. As per these mandatory guidelines, the reasons for such selection has to be with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned. During the recent 2 State Assembly elections held in 2025, it was observed that political parties gave unfounded and baseless reasons like popularity of the person, does good social work, cases are politically motivated etc. These are not sound and cogent reasons for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds. This data clearly shows that political parties have no interest in reforming the electoral system and our democracy will continue to suffer at the hands of lawbreakers who become lawmakers.

Financial Background

Figure: Share of wealth among the contesting candidates

Share of wealth among candidates: The share of wealth amongst the candidates contesting in the Puducherry assembly elections 2026 is as follows:

Value of assets (Rs.)	Number of candidates	Percentage of Candidates
Rs. 5 crores and above	62	21%
Rs. 2 crores to Rs. 5 crores	23	8%
Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores	64	22%
Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs.50 lakhs	79	27%
less than Rs.10 lakhs	63	22%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 291 candidates analysed, 119(41%) are crorepatis. In 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, out of 323 candidates, 74(23%) were crorepatis.

Figure: Comparative Analysis of Crorepati Candidates: 2021 Vs 2026

Party wise Crorepati Candidates: The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties 17(81%) out of 21 candidates analysed from INC, 16(100%) out of 16 candidates analysed from All India N.R. Congress, 11(92%) out of 12 candidates analysed from DMK and 10(100%) out of 10 candidates analysed from BJP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepati Candidates

Total assets of candidates: The total assets of 291 Candidates are Rs. 2,099 Crores.

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 is Rs 7.21 Crores. In 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, average assets per candidate for 323 Candidates was Rs. 2.14 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 21 INC candidates analysed is Rs. 7.69 Crores, 16 All India N.R. Congress candidates analysed is Rs 19.41 Crores, 12 DMK candidates have average assets of Rs 12.76 Crores and 10 BJP candidates have average assets worth Rs 36.48 Crores.

Highest assets candidates: The details of top 3 candidates with highest declared assets, contesting in the Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Jose Charles Martin	Puducherry	Kamaraj Nagar	Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi (LJK)	3,39,34,93,484	2,69,74,32,100	6,09,09,25,584 609 Crore+	Y
2	V. P. Ramalingame	Puducherry	Raj Bhavan	BJP	27,75,37,812	87,86,91,367	1,15,62,29,179 115 Crore+	Y
3	A. Namassivayam	Puducherry	Mannadipet	BJP	16,50,34,701	68,95,79,772	85,46,14,473 85 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets

Zero assets candidates: There are 3 candidates who have declared zero assets. The details of these candidates are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	M.P. Simon Raj	Karaikal	Thirunallar	IND	0	0	0	Y
2	R. Sundarraj	Puducherry	Mannadipet	IND	0	0	0	Y
3	A Velu	Puducherry	Nettapakkam (SC)	IND	0	0	0	Y

Table: Candidates with declared zero assets

Lowest assets candidates: The details of three candidates with lowest assets (excluding zero assets candidates) are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Sutham Sundarrajan Alias Ravindran	Puducherry	Mudaliarpet	IND	300	0	300 3 Hund+	Y
2	L. Manivannan	Puducherry	Ariankuppam	IND	2,000	0	2,000 2 Thou+	Y
3	S. Amutha	Puducherry	Orleampeth	IND	7,618	0	7,618 7 Thou+	Y

Table: Candidates with declared lowest assets

Candidates with highest liabilities: 183(63%) candidates have declared liabilities in their affidavits. The details of top three candidates with highest liabilities are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Total Assets (Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Jose Charles Martin	Puducherry	Kamaraj Nagar	Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi (LJK)	6,09,09,25,584 609 Crore+	2,10,79,35,102 210 Crore+	Y
2	V. P. Ramalingame	Puducherry	Raj Bhavan	BJP	1,15,62,29,179 115 Crore+	30,38,92,897 30 Crore+	Y
3	A. Namassivayam	Puducherry	Mannadipet	BJP	85,46,14,473 85 Crore+	20,90,61,621 20 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest liabilities

Candidates with highest income as declared in the ITR*: The details of top 3 candidates with highest income declared in ITR are given below:

S.No.	Name	Party Name	Constituency	District Name	Total Assets (Rs)	Self-Source of Income	Spouse's Source of Income	The financial year for which the last income tax return has been filed by candidate	Total income shown by candidate in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs)	Self-income shown by candidate in ITR (Rs)
1	Jose Charles Martin	Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi (LJK)	Kamaraj Nagar	Puducherry	6,09,09,25,584 609 Crore+	Business, Rent and Investments	Business	2024-2025	59,53,74,190 59 Crore+	59,37,10,870 59 Crore+
2	Gopalakrishnan	Pattali Makkal Katchi	Mudaliarpet	Puducherry	20,94,26,307 20 Crore+	All Car Service Center	NIL	2025-2026	6,47,80,160 6 Crore+	6,47,80,160 6 Crore+
3	M. Vasanthkumar	IND	Thirunallar	Karaikal	14,74,59,606 14 Crore+	Rs 452000/-	NIL	2025-2026	2,38,93,850 2 Crore+	1,09,78,590 1 Crore+

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest income as declared in ITR

Other Background Details

Education details of candidates: 125(43%) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5^th and 12^thstandard while 134(46%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 25 candidates are Diploma holders. 2 candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and 4 candidates are Illiterates. 1 candidate has not disclosed his educational details in the affidavit.

Age details of candidates: 73(25%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 165 (57%) candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 53 (18%) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years.

Gender details of candidates: 40(14%) female candidates are contesting in the Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026. In 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, 36(11%) out of 323 candidates analysed were women.

Analysis of Assets Comparison of Re-Contesting MLAs

Number of re-contesting MLAs: Number of re-contesting MLAs analysed in the Puducherry assembly elections of 2026 is 22.

Average Assets in 2021 Elections: The average assets of these 22 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties including independents in 2021 was Rs 11.10 Crores.

Average Assets in 2026 Elections: The average asset of these 22 re-contesting MLAs in 2026 is Rs 20.22 Crores.

Average Asset growth in 5 years (2021-2026): The average asset growth for these 22 re- contesting MLAs, between the Puducherry Assembly Elections of 2021 and 2026 is Rs 9.12 Crores.

Percentage growth in 5 years (2021-2026): Average percentage growth in assets for these 22 re-contesting MLAs is 82%.

Comparative analysis of party wise average assets of re-contesting MLAs in 2021 and 2026

S.No.	Party in Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026	Number of re-contesting MLAs	Average Assets in Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 (In Rs.)	Average Assets in Puducherry Assembly Elections 2021 (In Rs.)	Average Assets Increase (In Rs.)	Average % Increase in Assets
1.	DMK	6	7,50,53,370 7 Crore+	3,95,30,478 3 Crore+	3,55,22,892 3 Crore+	89.86%
2.	All India N.R. Congress	6	22,46,01,036 22 Crore+	15,50,54,050 15 Crore+	6,95,46,986 6 Crore+	44.85%
3.	BJP	4	40,15,77,098 40 Crore+	15,20,48,238 15 Crore+	24,95,28,860 24 Crore+	164.11%
4.	INC	3	6,87,57,538 6 Crore+	6,17,03,402 6 Crore+	70,54,136 70 Lacs+	11.43%
5.	Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam	2	3,43,90,723 3 Crore+	2,13,88,515 2 Crore+	1,30,02,208 1 Crore+	60.79%
6.	Neyam Makkal Kazhagam	1	77,00,50,328 77 Crore+	43,93,05,327 43 Crore+	33,07,45,001 33 Crore+	75.29%
GRAND TOTAL		22	20,22,42,691.27 20 Crore+	11,10,40,576.5 11 Crore+	9,12,02,114.77 9 Crore+	82%

Table: Average asset increases of re-contesting MLAs - party wise

Recommendations of ADR

To remedy the existing problem of criminalization is to immediately act upon the plausible solutions offered by various committees, civil society and citizens. The Supreme Court of India being the ultimate custodian of “Justice and Rule of Law” should reprimand political parties and politicians for their complete lack of will, reprehensible predilection and absence of required laws.
Permanent disqualification of candidates convicted for heinous crimes like murder, rape, smuggling, dacoity, kidnapping etc.
Disqualification of persons from contesting elections to the public offices against whom charges have been framed for having committed serious criminal offences punishable by imprisonment of at least 5 years, and the case is filed at least 6 months prior to the election in question.
Cancellation of tax exemptions given to the political parties who field such tainted candidates.
Bringing political parties under the Right to Information Act.
De-register and de-recognise any political party if it knowingly puts up a candidate with a tainted background.
Political parties should annually file the information on criminal antecedents of their Office Bearers and make such records available to the public, including NIL records.
Disqualification of candidates furnishing false information in the election affidavit (Form 26).
Ensure trial of cases in which the politicians are accused to be concluded in a time bound manner.
Implementation of SC judgment dated 23^rd September, 2013 (i.e provision of NOTA buttons on the EVMs) in its letter and spirit by ensuring a) if NOTA gets more votes than any of the candidates, none of the candidates should be declared elected, and a fresh election should be held; b) in the fresh election, none of the candidates in the earlier election, in which NOTA got the highest number of votes, should be allowed to contest.
Implementation of the 25^th September, 2018 and 13^th February, 2020 SC orders on 'publication of criminal cases against candidates selected by political parties along with reasons for such selection' in its letter and spirit by directing the Election Commission of India a) to list out names of such tainted candidates selected by the political parties along with such reasons for such selection C8 including diligent publication of reasons in newspapers, T.V channels, party website etc, b) strict and constant reminders by ROs to the defaulters, c) list needs to be religiously prepared and submitted to the Supreme Court after every election, d) uploading of this list on ECI’s website for public inspection, e) a suitably heavy financial penalty levied on political parties for making insufficient disclosures, invalid and common reasons, selection of candidates based on winnability and f) Officer in-charge of a political party pertaining to submission of a compliance report should also be held accountable for such a breach.
The Election Commission of India and all State Election Commissions should make it mandatory in all elections; Parliamentary, Assembly and Local Body elections to carry display boards outside each and every polling booth showing a summarised version of candidates’ affidavits. The polling booths should essentially display details of candidate’s criminal records, assets and liabilities and education qualification.
The Election Commission of India under its ‘Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation’ (SVEEP) as well as through other national campaigns on voter awareness held before every election should inform and aware the voters that (i) taking and giving cash or gifts/freebies for votes is a criminal offense, (ii) such instances should be brought to the notice of the ECI through its web application, (iii) inform voters that information on criminal records of candidates is available on the ECI website, outside polling booths and other sources that the ECI may use.
Political parties in India should be required to announce/publish the list of candidates contesting elections at least 3 months prior to elections.
Role of money and muscle power is evident from the fact that all major political parties in Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 have fielded 37% to 100% candidates who are crorepatis and 14% to 50 % candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves. This close and alarming nexus between money power and muscle power has got so ingrained in our electoral system that the citizens are left hostage to the current situation. Money and muscle power hurt the principles of 'free and fair elections', 'participatory democracy' and 'level playing field'. The present circumstances therefore demand an extensive deliberation by the voters so that sanctity of elections is not ridiculed by tenacious entry of tainted candidates and candidates with abnormal multiplication of assets.