As many as 114 (or 17%) of the 673 candidates in the fray for the Delhi assembly elections have criminal cases filed against them. In fact, 74 (11%) of them have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis of their self-sworn affidavits carried out by the Delhi Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

During the previous elections of 2013, 130 (16%) out of 796 candidates analysed had criminal cases against them, and 94 (12%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases. Way back in the 2008 Delhi assembly elections, the comparative figures were 14% and 4%, Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member of ADR, and Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (retd), head of ADR, told a press conference here today.

The BJP leads when it comes to fielding the candidates with criminal backgrounds – 27 (39%) out of its 69 candidates have indicated so, followed by AAP (23 candidates, 33%) the Congress (21 candidates, 30%) and BSP (12 candidates, 17%).

Crorepati Candidates
About one in every three candidates in Delhi is a crorepati: 230 candidates (34%) out of 673, compared to 265 (33%) out of 796 candidates during the 2013 elections, have declared total assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. Indeed, 62 candidates (9%) have assets worth more than Rs. 10 crore.

Here, the Congress leads the pack, with 59 (84%) crorepati candidates, followed by 50 (72%) from BJP, 44 (63%) from AAP, 28 (40%) of BSP and 27 (14%) out of 195 independent candidates. The average assets per candidate are Rs. 3.32 crore, a tad lower than the 2013 figure of Rs. 3.43 crore (only Rs. 1.77 crore in the 2008 polls).

Meanwhile, 26 candidates have declared they are illiterate, and 374 (56%) candidates (not including candidates who are illiterate) have declared that have an education qualification of 12th pass or below while 265 (39%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. Only 11 (2%) candidates have doctorate degrees.

In spite of all the talk about women’s empowerment, no party has given a substantial number of tickets to women. Thus, there are only 66 (less than 10%) female candidates out of 673 candidates. In 2013 there were 71 (9%) female candidates out of 810 candidates, whereas in 2008 there were 81 (9%) female candidates out of 875 candidates.

 For full analysis, see the report attached below.

Report 1

Report 2