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

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Nov 16, 2024, 10:37:40 AM11/16/24

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Press Release

Date: November 16, 2024

Dear Friends,

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 2201 out of 4136 candidates, who are contesting in the Maharashtra 2024 Assembly Elections. The effort has been to cover most of the affidavits of the candidates from major parties (INC, BJP, NCP, NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar, Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). Due to constraints in time, the rest of the candidates’ affidavits were not analysed. The rest of the affidavits are being analysed and the report would be updated subsequently. Out of 4136 contesting candidates, 490 are from National parties, 496 are from State parties, 1063 are from registered unrecognized parties and 2087 candidates are contesting Independently.

The full reports in English and Hindi can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/Candidates-Report-Maharashtra-Assembly-Elections-2024

Party	Total Contesting Candidates	Total Number of Analysed Candidates	Candidates with declared Criminal Cases	% of candidates with declared criminal cases	No. of Crorepatis	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
National Parties	490	386	173	45%	254	66%
State Parties	496	380	227	60%	346	91%
Registered Unrecognized Party	1063	513	91	18%	105	21%
Independent	2087	922	138	15%	124	13%
Total	4136	2201	629	29%	829	38%

Table: Party category wise details

Summary and Highlights

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of the 2201 candidates analysed in Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, 629(29%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, out of 3112 candidates analysed, 916(29%) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 412(19%) have declared serious criminal cases. In 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, 600 (19%) 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,102(68%) out of 149 candidates analysed from BJP, 59(58%) out of 101 candidates analysed from INC, 63(66%) out of 95 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 51 (61%) out of 84 candidates analysed from NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar, 52 (64%) out of 81 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena and 32 (54%) out of 59 candidates analysed from NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,57(38%) out of 149 candidates analysed from BJP, 35(35%) out of 101 candidates analysed from INC, 40(42%) out of 95 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 28 (33%) out of 84 candidates analysed from NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar, 34 (42%) out of 81 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena and 22 (37%) out of 59 candidates analysed from NCP 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: 50 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 50 candidates 2 candidates have declared charge related to rape (IPC Section-376).

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: 39 candidates have declared cases related to Attempt to murder (IPC Section-307 and BNS Section-109) against themselves.

The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 29% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 have given tickets from 54% to 68 % 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 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 Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 is as follows:

Value of assets (Rs.)	Number of candidates	Percentage of Candidates
Rs. 5 crores and above	485	22.04%
Rs. 2 crores to Rs. 5 crores	179	8.13%
Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores	364	16.54%
Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs.50 lakhs	455	20.67%
less than Rs.10 lakhs	718	32.62%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 2201 candidates analysed, 829(38%) are crorepatis. In 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, out of 3112 candidates, 1007(32%) 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 144(97%) out of 149 candidates analysed from BJP, 94(93%) out of 101 candidates analysed from INC, 94(99%) out of 95 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 80(95%) out of 84 candidates analysed from NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar, 79(98%) out of 81 candidates analysed from Shiv Sena and 58(98%) out of 59 candidates analysed from NCP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Figure: Party wise percentage of crorepati candidates

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 is Rs 9.11 Crores. In 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, average assets per candidate for 3112 Candidates was Rs. 4.21 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 149 BJP candidates analysed is Rs. 53.98 Crores, 81 Shiv Sena candidates analysed is Rs 29.02 Crores, 101 INC candidates have average assets of Rs 25.29 Crores, 84 NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar candidates have average assets of Rs 24.54 Crores, 59 NCP candidates have average assets of Rs 22.99 Crore and 95 Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have average assets worth Rs 15.28 Croes.

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

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Parag Shah	Mumbai Suburban	Ghatkopar East	BJP	33,15,52,80,898	67,53,40,000	33,83,06,20,898 3383 Crore+	Y
2	Prashant Ramsheth Thakur	Raigad	Panvel	BJP	58,81,71,488	4,17,03,67,842	4,75,85,39,330 475 Crore+	Y
3	Mangal Prabhat Lodha	Mumbai City	Malabar Hill	BJP	2,28,08,94,618	2,19,00,29,313	4,47,09,23,931 447 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets

Zero assets candidates: There are 26 candidates who have 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	Ajay Bhojraj Mandape	Amaravati	Badnera	IND	2,000	0	2,000 2 Thou+	Y
2	Vijay Manohar Shrivas	Amaravati	Badnera	IND	2,000^*	0	2,000 2 Thou+	Y
3	Altaf Khajamiya Syed	Beed	Parli	IND	2,000^*	0	2,000 2 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: 1288(59%) 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	Mangal Prabhat Lodha	Mumbai City	Malabar Hill	BJP	4,47,09,23,931 447 Crore+	3,06,22,72,630 306 Crore+	2,52,12,198 2 Crore+	Y
2	Pratap Baburao Sarnaik	Thane	Ovala Majiwada	Shiv Sena	3,33,32,95,113 333 Crore+	1,99,99,32,205 199 Crore+	0	Y
3	Kadam Vishwajit Patangrao	Sangli	Palus-Kadegaon	INC	2,99,46,10,739 299 Crore+	1,15,64,44,474 115 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 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	Parag Shah	BJP	Ghatkopar East	Mumbai Suburban	33,83,06,20,898 3383 Crore+	Business & Investments	Investments in Business and Partnership Firm/ Limited Liability Partnership and Other Income in the Nature of Dividend, Interest and Rent etc	2023-2024	44,61,50,660 44 Crore+	25,70,27,280 25 Crore+
2	Muzaffar Hussain	INC	Meera Bhayandar	Thane	95,54,90,347 95 Crore+	Income from House property, Income from Business & Profession & Income from Investments.	NA	2023-2024	23,76,01,730 23 Crore+	23,76,01,730 23 Crore+
3	Rohit Pawar	NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar	Karjat Jamkhed	Ahmednagar	1,06,26,39,996 106 Crore+	Salary, Interest, Dividend, Rent and Agriculture	Business, Service, Interest and Agriculture	2023-2024	23,66,98,207 23 Crore+	22,99,27,479 22 Crore+

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

Other Background Details

Education details of candidates: 1034(47%) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5^th and 12^thstandard while 1025(47%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 74 candidates are Diploma holders. 58 candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and 10 candidates are Illiterates.

Age details of candidates: 686(31%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 1196 (54%) candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 317 (14%) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years. There are 2 candidates who have declared their age to be above 80 years.

Gender details of candidates: 204(9%) female candidates are contesting in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024. In 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, 235(8%) out of 3112 candidates analysed were women.

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. 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 Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 have fielded 93% to 99% candidates who are crorepatis and 54% to 68 % 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.