132 of 699 contestants in Delhi elections have criminal history: ADR

44 out of 70 AAP candidates, 29 out of 70 Congress candidates and 20 out of 68 BJP candidates have criminal cases against them

At least 132 of the 699 candidates contesting the 2025 Delhi assembly elections have disclosed criminal cases against themselves, of whom 81 have declared serious criminal cases, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, revealed in a new report on Monday. Thirteen candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women, two have declared murder charges and five have declared cases related to attempts to murder.

The ADR report said that political parties have not adhered to the Supreme Court’s directions regarding the selection of candidates with criminal backgrounds. (HT Archive)

The ADR report said that political parties have not adhered to the Supreme Court’s directions regarding the selection of candidates with criminal backgrounds.

“The Supreme Court’s directions have had no effect on political parties in the selection of candidates in the Delhi assembly elections 2025. At least 19% of the candidates who have been given tickets are involved in criminal cases,” the ADR said in a press conference in Delhi.

In a party-wise breakdown, the report shows that 44 out of 70 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates, 29 out of 70 Congress candidates and 20 out of 68 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates have criminal cases against them. Of these, 29 AAP candidates, 13 Congress candidates and nine BJP candidates have declared serious criminal cases.

On September 25, 2018, the Supreme Court mandated that all political parties must publicly disclose candidate details, including any criminal history and financial information, three times after nominations are filed. On February 13, 2020, the court heard a contempt petition and reaffirmed the 2018 ruling. It added that parties are required to provide justifications for choosing candidates with ongoing criminal cases within 48 hours of their selection or at least two weeks before the nomination filing period begins, whichever comes first.

ADR also found that 21 candidates from registered unrecognised parties (RUP) and 14 independent candidates have disclosed criminal cases. Sixteen RUP candidates and 11 independents have declared serious criminal cases. ADR has flagged 16 constituencies as “red alert” areas where three or more candidates have criminal backgrounds with Matiala constituency in west Delhi having the highest number of such candidates at five.

During a press conference, ADR head Major General Anil Verma (retd) said that despite the Supreme Court’s directions, political parties have failed to provide justifications for nominating candidates with criminal records. “The Supreme Court also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to track this and consider it contempt if parties fail to provide justifications,” Verma said, adding that there have been no updates on contempt cases on ECI’s website.

The report also reveals that five candidates have assets worth more than ₹100 crore, with 18 others declaring assets worth more than ₹50 crore. BJP candidate Karnail Singh appears to be the wealthiest with declared assets at over ₹259 crore, followed by BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa with ₹248 crore. Congress’ Gurcharan Singh (Raju) has declared assets worth over ₹130 crore and BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh has over ₹115 crore. AAP’s Dhanwanti Chandela has declared assets of over ₹109 crore.

In terms of asset distribution, 125 candidates have declared assets worth ₹5 crore or more, while 222 candidates have assets under ₹10 lakh. The total declared assets of all candidates amount to ₹3,952 crore. On the lower end of the spectrum, independent candidates Ashok Kumar, Anita, and Bahujan Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samta Party’s Khilkhilakar have declared assets as low as ₹6,586, ₹9,500 and ₹10,000. Some candidates, including Rashtriya Republican Party’s Shabana and independent candidate Yogesh Kumar, have declared no assets.

Responding to HT’s questions, Vipul Mudgal, director of Common Cause, an NGO, spoke about the connection between criminal backgrounds, financial assets, and electoral success. “According to ADR analyses, a candidate with a criminal background is 14% more likely to be elected than one without,” Mudgal said. “Similarly, billionaires or millionaires are twice as likely to be elected,” he added.

Verma also cited ADR surveys in 535 constituencies, revealing that 35% of respondents were aware of the criminal cases against candidates but still voted for them. “Political parties are immune to the pressure from the judiciary or civil society organisations,” he added.

Regarding educational qualifications, the ADR report found that 324 candidates have completed education between 5th and 12th standard, while 322 are graduates or have higher educational qualifications. Eighteen candidates hold diplomas, six are “literate” and 29 are “illiterate”, according to ADR. Age-wise, 196 candidates are between 25 and 40 years old, 394 are between 41 and 60, 106 are between 61 and 80 and three candidates are above 80. Seventy-two candidates are women and one is a transgender.