Press Release: Haryana Assembly Elections 2024: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender, and Other Details of Candidates

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Sep 30, 2024, 2:36:34 AM9/30/24

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Press Release

Date: September 30, 2024

Dear Friends,

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Haryana Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1028 out of 1031 candidates, who are contesting in the Haryana 2024 Assembly Elections. Out of 1031 contesting candidates, 302 are from National parties, 121 are from State parties, 144 are from registered unrecognized parties and 464 candidates are contesting Independently.

This report also includes Analysis of Assets Comparison of Re-Contesting MLAs in the Haryana Assembly Election 2024.

The full reports in English and Hindi can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/Analysis-of-Criminal-Financial-and-other-Details-of-Candidates-Haryana-Assembly-Elections-2024.

Party	Total Contesting Candidates	Total Number of Analysed Candidates	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	302	302	49	16%	31	10%	240	79%
State Parties	121	121	16	13%	12	10%	82	68%
Registered Unrecognized Party	144	144	18	13%	16	11%	32	22%
Independent	464	461	50	11%	36	8%	184	40%
Total	1031	1028	133	13%	95	9%	538	52%

Table: Party Category Wise Details

Summary and Highlights

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of the 1028 candidates analysed in Haryana Assembly elections 2024, 133(13%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, out of 1138 candidates analysed, 117(10%) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 95(9%) have declared serious criminal cases. In 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, 70 (6%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Figure: Comparative analysis of Candidates with declared Criminal Cases: 2019 vs 2024

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,17(19%) out of 89 candidates analysed from INC, 6(7%) out of 89 candidates analysed from BJP, 23(26%) out of 88 candidates analysed from AAP, 7 (11%) out of 66 candidates analysed from Jannayak Janta Party, 9 (18%) out of 51 candidates analysed from INLD and 3 (9%) out of 35 candidates analysed from BSP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,11(12%) out of 89 candidates analysed from INC, 3(3%) out of 89 candidates analysed from BJP, 14(16%) out of 88 candidates analysed from AAP, 6 (9%) out of 66 candidates analysed from Jannayak Janta Party, 6 (12%) out of 51 candidates analysed from INLD and 3 (9%) out of 35 candidates analysed from BSP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Candidates with Criminal Cases

Party	Haryana Assembly Elections 2019			Haryana Assembly Elections 2024
Party	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of candidates with Declared Criminal Cases	Percentage of candidates with Declared Criminal Cases	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of candidates with Declared Criminal Cases	Percentage of candidates with Declared Criminal Cases
BJP	89	3	3%	89	6	7%
INC	87	13	15%	89	17	19%
Jannayak Janta Party	87	10	12%	66	7	11%
INLD	80	7	9%	51	9	18%
AAP	46	12	26%	88	23	26%
BSP	86	12	14%	35	3	9%
Independent	366	29	8%	461	50	11%

Table: Party Wise Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: 2019 vs 2024

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: 2019 vs 2024

Candidates with declared cases related to crime against women: 11 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 11 candidates 2 candidates have declared charge related to rape (IPC Section-376) and Whoever commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but may extend to imprisonment (IPC Section-376(2)(n)).

Candidates with declared cases related to murder: 6 candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves.

Candidates with declared cases related to attempt to murder: 8 candidates have declared cases related to Attempt to murder (IPC Section-307) against themselves.

Red Alert Constituencies*: 20(22%) out of 90 constituencies are red alert constituencies. Red alert constituencies are those where 3 or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. 15 (17%) constituencies in the Haryana assembly elections 2019 had 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases.

The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 13% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 have given tickets from 7 % to 26 % 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 4 State Assembly elections held in 2024, 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 Haryana assembly elections 2024 is as follows:

Value of assets (Rs.)	Number of candidates	Percentage of Candidates
Rs. 5 crores and above	277	27%
Rs. 2 crores to Rs. 5 crores	136	13%
Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores	228	22%
Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs.50 lakhs	191	19%
less than Rs.10 lakhs	196	19%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 1028 candidates analysed, 538(52%) are crorepatis. In 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, out of 1138 candidates, 481(42%) were crorepatis.

Figure: Comparative Analysis of Crorepati Candidates: 2019 vs 2024

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 85(96%) out of 89 candidates analysed from BJP, 84(94%) out of 89 candidates analysed from INC, 46(70%) out of 66 candidates analysed from Jannayak Janta Party, 34(67%) out of 51 candidates analysed from INLD, 52(59%) out of 88 candidates analysed from AAP and 18(51%) out of 35 candidates analysed from BSP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepati Candidates

Party	Haryana Assembly Elections 2019			Haryana Assembly Elections 2024
Party	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of Crorepati Candidates	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of Crorepati Candidates	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
BJP	89	79	89%	89	85	96%
INC	87	79	91%	89	84	94%
Jannayak Janta Party	87	62	71%	66	46	70%
INLD	80	50	63%	51	34	67%
AAP	46	19	41%	88	52	59%
BSP	86	34	40%	35	18	51%
Independent	366	99	27%	461	184	40%

Table: Party Wise Crorepati Candidates: 2019 vs 2024

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepati Candidates: 2019 vs 2024

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 is Rs 8.68 Crores. In 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, average assets per candidate for 1138 Candidates was Rs. 4.31 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 89 INC candidates analysed is Rs. 24.40 Crores, 89 BJP candidates analysed is Rs 24.27 Crores, 51 INLD candidates have average assets of Rs 9.64 Crores, 66 Jannayak Janta Party candidates have average assets of Rs 9.36 Crores, 88 AAP candidates have average assets of Rs 5.57 Crore and 35 BSP have average assets worth Rs 3.46 Croes.

High asset candidates: The details of top 3 candidates with highest declared assets, contesting in the Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Capt. Abhimanyu	Hisar	Narnaund	BJP	4,43,51,58,181	47,96,43,339	4,91,48,01,520 491 Crore+	Y
2	Rohtas Singh	Gurugram	Sohna	INC	1,35,56,05,000	3,49,31,27,000	4,84,87,32,000 484 Crore+	Y
3	Savitri Jindal	Hisar	Hisar	IND	1,90,09,81,000	80,56,26,000	2,70,66,07,000 270 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets

Zero assets candidates: There are 5 candidates who have declared zero assets. The details of these candidates are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Manish	Faridabad	Faridabad Nit	Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Majdoor Party	0	0	0	Y
2	Aabid Khan	Faridabad	Badkhal	IND	0	0	0	Y
3	Adarsh Balyan	Faridabad	Faridabad	IND	0	0	0	Y
4	Rajiv Khatak	Hisar	Barwala	Jan Sewak Kranti Party	0	0	0	Y
5	Sarita	Karnal	Nilokheri (SC)	IND	0	0	0	Y

Table: Candidates with declared zero assets

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

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Dr. Parveen Kharkhoda	Sonipat	Kharkhauda (SC)	Yuga Thulasi Party	8,000	0	8,000 8 Thou+	Y
2	Bhupinder	Ambala	Ambala City	IND	10,000	0	10,000 10 Thou+	Y
3	Patasho Devi	Kaithal	Kaithal	IND	10,000^*	0	10,000 10 Thou+	Y

Table: Candidates with declared lowest assets

* On assets value indicates that the candidate has not provided the total in their affidavits, it has been calculated on the basis of details provided by them in the same

Candidates with high liabilities: 586(57%) 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	Total Assets (Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	Disputed liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Gopal Kanda	Sirsa	Sirsa	Haryana Lokhit Party	1,31,01,59,338 131 Crore+	83,93,16,757 83 Crore+	3,80,50,581 3 Crore+	Y
2	Rohtas Singh	Gurugram	Sohna	INC	4,84,87,32,000 484 Crore+	67,39,27,000 67 Crore+	0	Y
3	Dilbag Sandil	Jind	Uchana Kalan	IND	77,76,46,686 77 Crore+	56,15,38,784 56 Crore+	0	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest liabilities

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

S.No.	Name	Party Name	Constituency	District	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	Rohtas Singh	INC	Sohna	Gurugram	4,84,87,32,000 484 Crore+	Business	NA	2023-2024	29,35,61,000 29 Crore+	29,35,61,000 29 Crore+
2	Rajbir Fartia	INC	Loharu	Bhiwani	59,88,94,116 59 Crore+	Director Remuneration	Consultant	2023-2024	10,75,11,900 10 Crore+	10,58,04,070 10 Crore+
3	Naveen Goyal	IND	Gurgaon	Gurugram	19,04,97,325 19 Crore+	Business	Business	2023-2024	7,41,18,390 7 Crore+	3,92,37,770 3 Crore+

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

Other Background Details

Education details of candidates: 486(47%) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5^th and 12^thstandard while 492(48%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 26 candidates are Diploma holders. 8 candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and 15 candidates are Illiterates. 1 candidate has not given his educational qualification.

Age details of candidates: 319(31%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 528 (51%) candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 181 (18%) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years.

Gender details of candidates: 100(10%) female candidates are contesting in the Haryana Assembly Elections 2024. In 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, 104(9%) out of 1138 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 Haryana assembly elections of 2024 is 67.

Average Assets in 2019 Elections: The average assets of these 67 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties in 2019 was Rs 15.64 Crores.

Average Assets in 2024 Elections: The average asset of these 67 re-contesting MLAs in 2024 is Rs 21.42 Crores.

Average Asset growth in 5 years (2019-2024): The average asset growth for these 67 re- contesting MLAs, between the Haryana Assembly Elections of 2019 and 2024 is Rs 5.77 crores.

Percentage growth in 5 years (2019-2024): Average percentage growth in assets for these 67 re-contesting MLAs is 37%.

Comparative analysis of party wise average assets of re-contesting MLAs in 2019 and 2024

S.No.	Party in Haryana 2024	Total Number of re-contesting MLAs	Average Assets in Haryana 2024 (Rs.)	Average Assets in Haryana 2019 (Rs.)	Average Assets Increase/Decrease (In rs.)	Average % Increase/ Decrease in Asset
1.	BJP	30	17,19,16,446 17 Crore+	11,20,39,132 11 Crore+	5,98,77,314 5 Crore+	53.44%
2.	INC	30	16,90,51,664 16 Crore+	10,76,91,580 10 Crore+	6,13,60,084 6 Crore+	56.98%
3.	IND	2	8,88,03,841 8 Crore+	3,63,76,721 3 Crore+	5,24,27,120 5 Crore+	144.12%
4.	Jannayak Janta Party	2	66,52,49,546 66 Crore+	39,79,12,043 39 Crore+	26,73,37,503 26 Crore+	67.19%
5.	INLD	1	61,01,85,579 61 Crore+	65,41,28,857 65 Crore+	-4,39,43,278	-7%
6.	Haryana Lokhit Party	1	1,31,01,59,338 131 Crore+	95,43,44,837 95 Crore+	35,58,14,501 35 Crore+	37.28%
7.	Haryana Jan Sevak Party	1	69,56,03,625 69 Crore+	1,41,19,84,037 141 Crore+	-71,63,80,412	-51%
GRAND TOTAL		67	21,42,25,352.28 21 Crore+	15,64,32,188.40 15 Crore+	5,77,93,163.88 5 Crore+	37%

Table: Average assets increase/decrease 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 Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 have fielded 51% to 96% candidates who are crorepatis and 7% to 26 % 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.