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