Datanomics: Half of Bihar's MLAs face serious charges ahead of polls

As Bihar heads to the polls, new data from ADR exposes deep-rooted criminalisation across parties - with nearly half of its former MLAs facing serious criminal charges

With Bihar Assembly polls in a few weeks, the issue of criminalisation of politics is again in the spotlight. Since the 1990s, candidates facing serious charges have been elected to the legislature. Fresh data from the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) reinforces this: 49 per cent of MLAs elected in the 2020 Assembly elections face serious charges like murder, attempt to murder, and crimes against women.

 

Nationwide comparison

 

Bihar is among the top five states in India with the highest share of MLAs facing criminal charges. The ADR data shows that 66 per cent of MLAs in the Assembly have declared criminal cases against them, placing the state just behind Andhra Pradesh (79 per cent), Kerala and Telangana (69 per cent each). 

 

How parties in Bihar fare

 

According to the ADR, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party each have 53 MLAs with criminal cases, the highest in absolute terms. Meanwhile, 100 per cent of Independent MLAs, and those belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the CPI, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen faced criminal charges (all have candidates in the single-digits).