Press release: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Consolidated Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates - Phases 1 to 7

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May 29, 2024, 2:34:53 AMMay 29

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Press Release

Date: May 29, 2024

Dear Friends,

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 8337 out of 8360 candidates, who are contesting in the Lok Sabha 2024 Elections Phases I to VII. Out of 8360 contesting candidates, 1333 are from National parties, 532 are from State parties, 2580 are from registered unrecognized parties and 3915 candidates are contesting independently. There are 751 political parties contesting in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 whereas 677 political parties contested in 2019, 464 political parties contested in 2014 and 368 political parties contested in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections. It implies that there has been an increase of 104% in the number of political parties from 2009 to 2024.

This report also includes Analysis of Assets Comparison of Re-Contesting MPs in the Lok Sabha Election 2024

The full reports in English and Hindi can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/analysis-criminal-background-financial-education-gender-and-other-details-candidates-and-3

Summary and Highlights

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	1333	1331	443	33%	295	22%	906	68%
State Parties	532	532	249	47%	169	32%	421	79%
Registered Unrecognized Party	2580	2571	401	16%	316	12%	572	22%
Independent	3915	3903	550	14%	411	11%	673	17%
Total	8360	8337	1643	20%	1191	14%	2572	31%

Table: Party Category Wise Details

Phase Wise Summary of Candidates

Phase	No. of contesting candidates	No. of Candidates analysed	No. of Constituencies	No. of Candidates with Criminal Cases	% of Candidates with Criminal Cases	No. of Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases	% of Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases	No. of Crorepati Candidates	% of Crorepati Candidates	Average Assets (Rs. In crores)	Date of Poll
1	1625	1618	102	251	16%	163	10%	450	28%	4.51 Crores	19^th April, 2024
2	1198	1192	87	250	21%	168	14%	390	33%	5.17 Crores	26^th April, 2024
3	1352	1352	95	244	18%	172	13%	392	29%	5.67 Crores	7^th May, 2024
4	1717	1710	96	360	21%	274	16%	476	28%	11.72 Crores	13^th May, 2024
5	695	695	49	159	23%	122	18%	227	33%	3.56 Crores	20^th May, 2024
6	869	866	57	180	21%	141	16%	338	39%	6.21 Crores	25^th May, 2024
7	904	904	57	199	22%	151	17%	299	33%	3.27 Crores	1^st June, 2024
Total	8360	8337	543	1643	20%	1191	14%	2572	31%	6.23 Crores	-

Table: Phase wise summary of candidates

Criminal Background

Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: Out of the 8337 candidates analysed in Lok Sabha Elections 2024, 1643 (20%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of the 7928 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha Election in 2019, 1500 (19%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of 8205 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2014, 1404(17%) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of 7810 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 1158(15%) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 1191 (14%) candidates contesting in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 have declared serious criminal cases including charges related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc. Out of 7928 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2019, 1070(13%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves. Out of 8205 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2014, 908(11%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves. Out of 7810 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 608(8%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Figure: Percentage of Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: Lok Sabha 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

S.No.	Lok Sabha Election Year	Total Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases	Percentage of Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases	Number of Candidates with Declared Serious Criminal Cases	Percentage of Candidates with Declared Serious Criminal Cases
1	2009	7810	1158	15%	608	8%
2	2014	8205	1404	17%	908	11%
3	2019	7928	1500	19%	1070	13%
4	2024	8337	1643	20%	1191	14%

Table: Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: Lok Sabha 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Top 5 Candidates with Maximum Declared Criminal Cases:

S.No.	State	Constituency	Candidate Name	Party	Total Cases	Serious IPC
1	Kerala	Wayanad	K Surendran	BJP	243	139
2	Kerala	Ernakulam	Dr. K. S. Radhakrishnan	BJP	211	5
3	West Bengal	Barrackpur	Arjun Singh	BJP	93	236
4	Kerala	Idukki	Adv. Dean Kuriakose	INC	88	23
5	Telangana	Adilabad (ST)	Athram Suguna	INC	49	41

Table: Top 5 candidates with Maximum Declared Criminal Cases

Candidates with Declared Convicted Cases: 98 candidates have declared cases where they have been convicted.

Candidates with cases related to Murder: 40 candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section -302) against themselves.

Candidates with cases related to Attempt to Murder: 173 candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307) against themselves.

Candidates with cases related to Crime against Women: 197 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 197 candidates 16 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)).

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: 191 (43%) out of 440 candidates from BJP, 143 (44%) out of 327 candidates from INC, 63 (13%) out of 487 candidates from BSP, 33(63%) out of 52 candidates fielded by CPI (M) and 550 (14%) out of 3903 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 130 (30%) out of 440 candidates from BJP, 88 (27%) out of 327 candidates from INC, 48 (10%) out of 487 candidates from BSP, 18 (35%) out of 52 candidates fielded by CPI (M) and 411 (11%) out of 3903 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party	2009			2014			2019			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	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
INC	438	117	27%	463	128	28%	419	164	39%	327	143	44%
BJP	428	116	27%	426	139	33%	433	175	40%	440	191	43%
BSP	493	107	22%	502	115	23%	381	85	22%	487	63	13%
CPI(M)	81	20	25%	92	32	35%	69	40	58%	52	33	63%

Table: Party Wise Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: Lok Sabha 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Figure: Party Wise Candidates with Declared Criminal Cases: Lok Sabha 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Red Alert Constituencies*: 288 (53%) constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections have 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. 265 (49%) constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections 2019 had 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. 245 (45%) constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections 2014 had 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. 196 (36%) constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections 2009 had 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. Red alert constituencies are those constituencies where 3 or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 20% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 have given tickets from 13 % to 75 % 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 5 State Assembly elections held in 2023, 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 as Lok Sabha 2024 Elections is as follows:

Value of assets (Rs.)	No of candidates	Percentage of Candidates
Rs. 5 cr and above	1018	12%
Rs. 2 crores to Rs. 5 crores	757	9%
Rs.50 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores	1729	21%
Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs	2195	26%
less than Rs.10 lakhs	2638	32%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati candidates: Out of the 8337 candidates analysed, 2572 (31%) are crorepatis. Out of 7928 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha 2019 elections, 2297 (29%) candidates were crorepatis. Out of 8205 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha 2014 elections, 2217 (27%) candidates were crorepatis, Out of 7810 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha 2009 elections, 1249 (16%) candidates were crorepatis.

Figure: Crorepati Candidates: 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

S.No.	Lok Sabha Election Year	Total Number of Candidates Analysed	Crorepti Candidates	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
1	2009	7810	1249	16%
2	2014	8205	2217	27%
3	2019	7928	2297	29%
4	2024	8337	2572	31%

Table: Crorepati Candidates: 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Party wise Crorepati Candidates: 403 (92%) out of 440 candidates from BJP, 292 (89%) out of 327 candidates from INC, 163 (33%) out of 487 candidates from BSP, 27(52%) out of 52 candidates fielded by CPI (M), and 673(17%) out of 3903 Independent candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

Figure: Party Wise Crorepati Candidates: 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Party	2009			2014			2019			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	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of Crorepati Candidates	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates	Number of Candidates Analysed	Number of Crorepati Candidates	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
INC	438	275	63%	463	366	79%	419	348	83%	327	292	89%
BJP	428	180	42%	426	309	73%	433	361	83%	440	403	92%
BSP	493	147	30%	502	162	32%	381	127	33%	487	163	33%
CPI(M)	81	5	6%	92	17	18%	69	25	36%	52	27	52%

Table: Party Wise Crorepati Candidates: 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is Rs 6.23 Crore. The average of assets per candidate for 7928 contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 was Rs 4.14 Crore. The average of assets per candidate for 8205 contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2014 was Rs 4.92 Crore. The average of assets per candidate for 7810 contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2009 was Rs 1.11 Crore.

Figure: Average Assets of Candidates (Rs. In crore) - Lok Sabha 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 440 BJP candidates is Rs 41.26 Crores, 327 INC candidates have average assets of Rs 24.72 Crores, 487 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 2.66 Crores, 52 CPI(M) candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.47 Crore, and 3903 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 1.07 crores.

High asset candidates*: The 3 richest candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha 2024 Elections are given below:

S.No.	Name	State	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani	Andhra Pradesh	Guntur	TDP	55,98,64,80,786	1,06,82,46,752	57,05,47,27,538 5705 Crore+	Y
2	Konda Vishweshwar Reddy	Telangana	Chevella	BJP	44,90,08,21,858	78,14,00,236	45,68,22,22,094 4568 Crore+	Y
3	Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo	Goa	South Goa	BJP	12,50,28,38,731	1,11,40,00,000	13,61,68,38,731 1361 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets

Zero asset candidate: There are 46 candidates who have declared zero assets in their self sworn affidavits.

Low asset candidates: There are 767 (excluding candidates with zero assets) candidates who have declared assets below Rs. 1 lakh. The details of top 3 candidates with low assets are given below:

S.No.	Name	State	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Master Randhir Singh	Haryana	Rohtak	IND	2	0	2	Y
2	Katta Anand Babu	Andhra Pradesh	Bapatla (SC)	IND	7	0	7	N
3	Mohammad Sultan Ganaie	Jammu And Kashmir	Baramulla	IND	67	0	67	Y

Table: Top 3 low asset candidates

Candidates with high liabilities: The top three candidates with highest liabilities are as given below:

S.No.	Name	State	Constituency	Party Name	Total Assets(Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	Disputed liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani	Andhra Pradesh	Guntur	TDP	57,05,47,27,538 5705 Crore+	10,38,00,00,000 1038 Crore+	0	Y
2	S Jagathratchakan	Tamil Nadu	Arakkonam	DMK	53,45,87,828 53 Crore+	6,49,50,00,000 649 Crore+	0	Y
3	Ramesh Garg	Madhya Pradesh	Morena	BSP	16,47,36,522 16 Crore+	3,51,60,73,554 351 Crore+	1,35,21,773 1 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with high liabilities

Undeclared PAN: A total of 264 (3%) out of the 8337 candidates analysed have not declared their PAN details.

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

S.No.	Name	Party Name	Constituency	State	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	Naveen Jindal	BJP	Kurukshetra	Haryana	12,41,47,68,000 1241 Crore+	Advisory fee, Interest. Dividend & pension Income	Advisory Fee, interest & Dividend Income	2022-2023	84,17,88,117 84 Crore+	74,83,99,731 74 Crore+
2	Santrupt Misra	BJD	Cuttack	Odisha	4,82,21,02,948 482 Crore+	From Interest on Investment	Salary	2022-2023	66,67,67,940 66 Crore+	66,21,97,170 66 Crore+
3	Venkataramane Gowda (Star Chandru)	INC	Mandya	Karnataka	6,22,97,28,841 622 Crore+	Business income, interest income, and Rental income	Business income, interest income, and Rental income	2022-2023	55,09,60,929 55 Crore+	16,28,22,070 16 Crore+

Table: Top 3 Candidates with high income as declared in ITR

*Total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents

Other Background Details

Education details of candidates: 3482(42%) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5^th and 12^thstandard while 4211(51%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 292 candidates are Diploma holders. 217 candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and 121 candidates are Illiterates. 14 candidates have not given their educational qualification.

Age details of candidates: 2640(32%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 4283 (51%) candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 1403 (17%) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years and 11 candidates have declared their age are more than 80 years old.

Gender details of candidates: 797 (10%) female candidates are contesting in the Lok Sabha election this year. Out of 7928 candidates analysed in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, 716 (9%) candidates were female. Out of 8205 candidates analysed in the Lok Sabha elections 2014, 640 (8%) candidates were female. Out of 7810 candidates analysed in the Lok Sabha elections 2009, 556 (7%) candidates were female.

Analysis of Assets Comparison of Re-Contesting MPs

Number of re-contesting MPs: Number of re-contesting MPs analysed in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is 324.

Average Assets in 2019 Elections: The average assets of these 324 re-contesting MPs fielded by various parties in 2019 was Rs 21.55 Crores.

Average Assets in 2024 Elections: The average asset of these 324 re-contesting MPs in 2024 is Rs 30.88 Crores.

Average Asset growth in 5 years (2019-2024): The average asset growth for these 324 re- contesting MPs, between the Lok Sabha Elections of 2019 and 2024 is Rs 9.33 Crores.