Press Release: Analysis of Format C7 - Publication of Reasons Given for Selection of Candidates with Criminal Cases by Political Parties

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Apr 11, 2023, 3:06:08 AM4/11/23

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Press Release

Date: April 11, 2023

Dear Friends,

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has analysed Format C7 of 307 candidates, who contested in the Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh assembly election 2022 and Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland assembly election 2023.

The full English and Hindi reports along with the detailed Observations and Recommendations can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/analysis-format-c7-publication-reasons-given-selection-candidates-criminal-cases-political-3

Summary and Highlights

This data has been compiled from political parties' websites as well as social media handles that were functional before and during the period of the above-mentioned State assembly elections. Most political parties published details as per form C7 on their social media handles such as Twitter. It must be noted that in some cases, parties may have published these details (elsewhere) and it may not have appeared in our records.

S.No	State	Total Contesting Candidates	Number of Political Parties Analysed	Contesting Candidates Analysed from Shortlisted Political Parties	Number of Candidates Analysed with Declared Criminal Cases	No. of Candidates with Criminal Cases having a Published Format C7
1	Gujarat	1621	8	687	166	141
2	Himachal Pradesh	412	8	303	77	31
3	Tripura	259	5	181	38	14
4	Meghalaya	375	8	305	20	14
5	Nagaland	184	5	106	6	4
Total		2851	34*	1582	307	204

Analysis of Format C7 – Gujarat Assembly Elections, 2022

Political parties analysed:

Out of all the National and State political parties which contested in the Gujarat 2022 Assembly Elections, the following 8 political parties have been analysed for this report.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party

2. Bahujan Samaj Party

3. Indian National Congress

4. Communist Party of India (Marxist)

5. Jan Sewa Driver Party

6. Aam Aadmi Party

7. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen

8. Jan Sangharsh Virat Party

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of 687 contesting candidates analysed, 166 (24%) candidates belonging to the aforementioned political parties have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of 687 contesting candidates analysed belonging to the aforementioned political parties, 100 (15%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Reasons furnished for nominating candidates with criminal antecedents:

Out of 166 candidates with criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 141 (85%) candidates.
Out of 100 candidates with serious criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 89 (89%) candidates.
For 25 (15%) candidates with criminal background, no reasons for their selection have been provided by political parties.

Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases:

S.No.	Name of Candidate	Constituency	Political Party	No. of cases	Serious IPC Counts	Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
1	Hardik Bharatbhai Patel	VIRAMGAM	BJP	22	16	He is a well known publicly accepted leader and has been in a responsible position attached to social service.	As mentioned above in comparison to other individuals without criminal antecedents this candidate is quite accepted amongst the general mass and is also considered to be popular amongst the youth.
2	Gopalbhai Gordhanbhai Italia	KATARGAM	AAP	19	7	That in spite of under prosecution the candidate is a man of fight for social causes and qualities. He is well educated (B.A.L.L.B) to this he has a good reputation in society of Surat especially in Patidar Samaj. He helps poor and needy people of the society and struggle for them. He is liked by all the people of his area. The case filed with malafide intentions during andolan-protest by the companies against whom the police has filed this case. The hazardous waste disposal facilities have adverse impacts over the local people's health and ecology. Thus during the struggle this case was filed. There was negligible damage to the police vehicle only on glass, thus they weren't involved in this damage to public property at all.	His work for the society made him the appropriate candidate for the party against other candidate
3	Alpesh Kathiriya	VARACHHA ROAD	AAP	13	10	That in spite of under prosecution the candidate is a man of fight for social causes and qualities. He is well educated (LL.B) to this he has a good reputation in society of Surat especially in Patidar Samaj. He helps poor and needy people of the society and struggle for them. He is liked by all the people of his area. The case filed with malafide intentions during andolan-protest by the companies against whom the police has filed this case. The hazardous waste disposal facilities have adverse impacts over the local people's health and ecology. Thus during struggle this case was filed. There was negligible damage to police vehicle only one glass was broken thus they didn't involve in this damage to public property at all.	He is the most deserving and the accomplished candidate.

Table: Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases

Top commonly stated reasons by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background:

Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
He is well known publicly accepted leader and has been in responsible position attached to social service	No other candidate was found of similar stature.
That in spite of under prosecution the candidate is a man of fight for social causes & qualities. He is well educated	No such prospect found to replace him.
The selected candidate is a very senior and dedicated party worker	This candidate is a sitting MLA and is well accepted in his constituency by the people
The charge has not even been framed till today	All the cases are registered for public issue since he is working for the public
He has a good reputation in society	As a senior party worker he had an edge over other individuals considering the fact that whatever charges are alleged in the charge sheet have no substance and are purely with a vindictive approach and personal vendetta being waged by his political enemies. Therefore, he is selected as candidate

Table: Top 5 commonly stated reasons by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background

Political parties that did not publish reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background*:

Political Party	Total no. of contesting candidates with criminal background	No. of Candidates without Format C7	Percentage of candidates without Format C7
BJP	32	4	13%
INC	60	2	3%
BSP	2	2	100%
AAP	61	13	21%
AIMIM	4	4	100%
Jan Sangharsh Virat Party	1	0	0%
Jan Sewa Driver Party	4	0	0%
CPI(M)	2	0	0%

Table: Political parties that did not publish Format C7 for candidates with criminal background

*At the time of making this report, format C7 data of some political parties was not available on the websites and social media handles. However, it may have been posted earlier by the parties and removed later.

Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Political Party
Rajeshbhai Mangubhai Patel	3	AAP
Govindbhai Raijibhai Parmar	3	BJP
Rathwa Radhikaben Amarsinghbhai	2	AAP

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published

Other discrepancies in Format C7 of some candidates:

Name of the Party	Remarks
BJP	Around 70% of the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word reasons for the selection of the candidate. Selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate, and not mere “winnability” at the polls Refer Party Website Link Given Here : https://bjpgujarat.org/form-c7-for-assembly-candidates/
INC	Around 80 % the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word reason in the both sections for selection of candidate with criminal background and reason as to why other individual without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates Refer Party Website Link Given Here : https://www.incgujarat.com/format-c-7/
AAP	The Form C7 was uploaded on their party website but there is no signature of the office bearer. Refer Party Website Link Given Here : https://aamaadmiparty.org/candidates-with-criminal-antecedents-in-Gujarat-c7-details/

Analysis of Format C7 – Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections, 2022

Political parties analysed:

Out of all the National, State and Registered unrecognized political parties which contested in the Himachal Pradesh 2022 Assembly Elections, the following 8 political parties have been analysed for this report.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party

2. Bahujan Samaj Party

3. Aam Aadmi Party

4. Communist Party of India (Marxist)

5. Indian National Congress

6. Bhartiya Veer Dal

7. Himachal Jan Kranti Party

8. Rashtriya Devbhumi Party

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of 303 contesting candidates analysed, 77 (25%) candidates belonging to the aforementioned political parties have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of 303 contesting candidates analysed belonging to the aforementioned political parties, 38 (13%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Reasons furnished for nominating candidates with criminal antecedents:

Out of 77 candidates with criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 31 (40%) candidates
Out of 38 candidates with serious criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 17 (45%) candidates
For 46 (60%) candidates with criminal background, no reasons for their selection have been provided by political parties

Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases:

S.No.	Name of Candidate	Constituency	Political Party	No. of cases	Serious IPC Counts	Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
1	Rakesh Singha	Theog	CPI(M)	30	6	Format C7 available in the party website but not readable
2	Kuldip Singh Tanwar	Kasumpti	CPI(M)	20	2	Format C7 available in the party website but not readable
3	Manish Kumar Thakur	Paonta Sahib	AAP	19	0	Cases against more in numbers and party after going through the FIR's of each case found that the cases registered mostly during the agitations led by him & he has been fighting for the rights of the people.	His grit and determination to fight for the rights of the people made him the choice of the candidate of AAP over other candidates.

Table: Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases

Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background:

Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Meritorious Candidate	Since the Candidate is Meritorious Socially Active
Criminal case which seems to be politically motivated. He is a working for the downtrodden and poor people.	He has been the most deserving and accomplished candidate
Well known social worker	He is the most deserving and the accomplished candidate.
In comparison to the other candidates and their history, it was found to be suitable being the candidate has stated that false FIR has been lodged against him	The offences are not grave one, seem to be based on political vendetta. His Image supported by the local office bearers of the party as clean and good

Table: Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background

Political parties that did not publish reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background*:

Party Candidate	Total no. of contesting candidates with criminal background	No. of Candidates without Format C7	Percentage of candidates without Format C7
INC	36	36	100%
AAP	12	0	0%
BJP	12	1	8%
BSP	2	1	50%
CPI(M)	7	0	0%
Bhartiya Veer Dal	1	1	100%
Himachal Jan Kranti Party	1	1	100%
Rashtriya Devbhumi Party	6	6	100%

Table: Political parties that did not publish Format C7 for candidates with criminal background

Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Political Party
Vikramaditya Singh	11	INC
Kuldeep Singh Rathore	8	INC
Uttam Chand	5	Bhartiya Veer Dal

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published

Other discrepancies in Format C7 of some candidates:

Name of the Party

Remarks

BJP

All the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word reason for the selection of the candidate.

Refer Party Website Link Given Here: https://www.bjp.org/files/election-documents/candidates_format_C7_page_11.pdf

CPI(M)

Format C7 available in the party website but not readable

Refer Party Website Link Given Here:https://cpim.org/page/elections-2022

Analysis of Format C7 – Tripura Assembly Elections, 2023

Political parties analysed:

Out of all the National, State and Registered unrecognized political parties which contested in the Tripura 2023 Assembly Elections, the following 5 political parties have been analysed for this report.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party

2. Indian National Congress

3. All India Trinamool Congress

4. Communist Party of India (Marxist)

5. Tipra Motha Party

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of 181 contesting candidates analysed, 38 (21%) candidates belonging to the aforementioned political parties have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of 181 contesting candidates analysed belonging to the aforementioned political parties, 18 (10%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Reasons furnished for nominating candidates with criminal antecedents:

Out of 38 candidates with criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 14 (37%) candidates
Out of 18 candidates with serious criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 7 (39%) candidates
For 24 (63%) candidates with criminal background, no reasons for their selection have been provided by political parties.

Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Serious IPC Counts	Political Party	Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Pabitra Kar	8	0	CPI(M)	Format C7 not published by political party on official website and Social media handles
Dipankar Sen	4	0	CPI(M)	Format C7 not published by political party on official website and Social media handles
Krishnendu Choudhury	4	0	CPI(M)	Format C7 not published by political party on official website and Social media handles

Table: Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases

Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background:

Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Very well known for his active social work in his area.	The offences against the candidate are not grave and based on political vendetta.
Respectable and eminent personality	Others lack popularity among the public.
Well-known social worker	Has been a loyal member of the party.
Very popular amongst the local population	Has a good understanding of the area.

Table: Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background

Political parties that did not publish reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background*:

Political Party	Total no. of contesting candidates with criminal background	No. of Candidates without Format C7	Percentage of candidates without Format C7
INC	7	7	100%
BJP	9	0	0%
AITC	5	0	0%
CPI(M)	13	13	100%
Tipra Motha Party	4	4	100%

Table: Political parties that did not publish Format C7 for candidates with criminal background

Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Political Party
Pabitra Kar	8	CPI(M)
Dipankar Sen	4	CPI(M)
Krishnendu Choudhury	4	CPI(M)

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published

Other discrepancies in Format C7 of some candidates:

Name of the Party	Remarks (Refer annexure 1)
AITC	All the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word in the both sections reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background and reason as to why other individual without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates (Refer annexure 1)

Analysis of Format C7 – Meghalaya Assembly Elections, 2023

Political parties analysed:

Out of all the National, State and Registered unrecognized political parties which contested in the Meghalaya 2023 Assembly Elections, the following 8 political parties have been analysed for this report.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party

2. Indian National Congress

3. All India Trinamool Congress

4. National People’s Party

5. Garo National Council

6. Republican Party of India (A)

7. Voice of the People Party

8. United Democratic Party

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of 305 contesting candidates analysed, 20 (7%) candidates belonging to the aforementioned political parties have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of 305 contesting candidates analysed belonging to the aforementioned political parties, 16 (5%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Reasons furnished for nominating candidates with criminal antecedents:

Out of 20 candidates with criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 14 (70%) candidates
Out of 16 candidates with serious criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 11 (69%) candidates
For 6 (30%) candidates with criminal background, no reasons for their selection have been provided by political parties.

Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Serious IPC Counts	Political Party	Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Bernard N. Marak	14	22	BJP	He is a person who has been engage in social service for the people of the constituency for the past many years. He was found to have good understanding of the ground situation and share a good rapport with the voters here.	The BJP firmly believes in fielding candidate who can best represent the aspirations of the people of the constituency. Thus, he has been chosen over the others.
Champion R. Sangma	12	22	INC	Shri Champion R Sangma has work relentlessly for the upliftment and development of people from his area and he is well respected.	Shri Champion R Sangma has work relentlessly for the upliftment and development of people from his area and he is well respected.
Vincent T Sangma	4	7	AITC	Shri. Vincent T. Sangma is a very sincere and dedicated party worker having deep roots in 25-Mawsynram (ST) Assembly	Shri. Vincent T. Sangma is a very sincere and dedicated party worker having deep roots in 25-Mawsynram (ST) Assembly

Table: Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases

Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background:

Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Social worker for many years	The party selects those candidates whose name has been unanimously decided upon by party workers.
Work relentlessly for the upliftment and development of people from their area and they are well respected.	No one was better than them.
Case against them is politically motivated, political rivalry, vendetta etc.	Others lack popularity among the public.

Table: Top commonly stated reasons given by political parties for selection of candidates with criminal background

Political parties that did not publish reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background*:

Political Party	Total no. of contesting candidates with criminal background	No. of Candidates without Format C7	Percentage of candidates without Format C7
AITC	3	0	0%
BJP	1	0	0%
Garo National Council	1	1	100%
INC	6	2	33%
NPP	6	0	0%
Republican Party of India (A)	1	1	100%
UDP	1	1	100%
Voice of the People Party	1	1	100%

Table: Political parties that did not publish Format C7 for candidates with criminal background

Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Political Party
Nikman Ch. Marak	4	Garo National Council
Ashahel D. Shira	2	UDP
Panseng R. Marak	1	Republican Party of India (A)

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest criminal cases whose reasons for selection have not been published

Other discrepancies in Format C7 of some candidates:

Name of the Party	Remarks (Refer annexure 2)
INC	All the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word reasons in the both sections for selection of candidate with criminal background and reason as to why other individual without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates
AITC	All the candidates with cases against them have given the same word to word reasons in the both sections for selection of candidate with criminal background and reason as to why other individual without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates

Analysis of Format C7 – Nagaland Assembly Elections, 2023

Political parties analysed:

Out of all the National, State and Registered unrecognized political parties which contested in the Nagaland 2023 Assembly Elections, the following 5 political parties have been analysed for this report.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party

2. Indian National Congress

3. Naga People's Front

4. Rising People's Party

5. Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of 106 contesting candidates analysed, 6 (6%) candidates belonging to the aforementioned political parties have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of 106 contesting candidates analysed belonging to the aforementioned political parties, 3 (3%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Reasons furnished for nominating candidates with criminal antecedents:

Out of 6 candidates with criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for 4 (67%) candidates
Out of 3 candidates with serious criminal cases, reasons have been furnished for only 1 (33%) candidate
For 2 (33%) candidates with criminal background, no reasons for their selection have been provided by political parties.

Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases:

Name of Candidate	No. of cases	Serious IPC Counts	Political Party	Reasons for selection of candidate with criminal background	Reasons as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected
Vikato Aye	1	5	NPF	Format C7 not published by political party on official website and Social media handles
A. Pangjung Jamir	1	1	BJP	Candidate was serving as a Govt. Officer in the land resource department of Government of Nagaland when due professional rivalry he was falsely targeted and a roped in a false case through a supplementary charge sheet. Order of Cognizance against him has stayed by the Hon'ble Kohima bench of the Hon'ble High Court of Guwahati vide order dated 06.08.2018 WP (CRL.) 4(K) of 2018. He continued to serve his employment and gracefully retired on 21.01.2023. The candidate is a respectable member of the society and was selected after the internal survey of the party's workers.	He is an educated person who is committed to serve his community and was selected after an internal survey with the party grass-root workers. The view of grass-root worker of the party is that the he will be acquitted even if case against is taken to trial. He is a knowledgeable person with a good supervisory and administrative skills therefore he will be able to use the system efficiently to the benefit of his assembly. Due to these reasons he is a better suited candidate.
Neiba Kronu	1	1	NDPP	Format C7 not published by political party on official website and Social media handles

Table: Reasons given for top 3 candidates with highest number of total criminal cases

Political parties that did not publish reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background*:

Political Party	Total no. of contesting candidates with criminal background	No. of Candidates without Format C7	Percentage of candidates without Format C7
BJP	1	0	0%
INC	1	0	0%
NDPP	2	1	50%
NPF	1	1	100%
Rising People's Party	1	0	0%