StatsGuru: Decoding the mix of Assembly poll candidates

The Association for Democratic Reforms has tracked various characteristics of legislators and candidates for elections in India for some time now. Its collation of candidate declarations for the ongoing Assembly polls throws up some interesting points. Table 1, for example, shows the proportion of candidates with criminal cases varies widely by state; even in Madhya Pradesh, the worst-off, however, less than a quarter of all candidates have criminal cases registered against them. The proportion fighting "serious" criminal cases - such as murder - is even lower, as Table 2 shows.

However, it is worth noting that in spite of civil society outcry, the increase in the number of candidates with ongoing criminal cases as compared to the previous round of elections in 2008 is not small, as Table 3 shows, and is worst in Delhi. Also, the proportion in the mainstream national parties is not smaller than the average, as Table 4 shows. In fact, a startling 46 per cent of BJP candidates in Delhi have criminal cases against them.

The number of candidates who have declared wealth of over Rs 1 crore, meanwhile, is shown in Table 5. Surprisingly, over half of the candidates in Mizoram are wealthy. The number of such candidates for the mainstream parties has also increased vastly since 2008, as Table 6 shows.

Meanwhile, interestingly, as shown in Table 7, some states have a relatively large number of "young" - below 50 - candidates, especially in Delhi and Chhattisgarh. The number of women candidates in Delhi, however, is small, as Table 8 shows - although in Rajasthan and MP, the mainstream parties have nominated many more women than the average. Finally, Table 9 shows a large proportion of graduates and dropouts among current candidates.