Among the major parties, 3 out of 21 candidates from the Congress, 4 out of 16 from the All India NR Congress (AINR), 6 out of 12 from the DMK, and 5 out of 10 candidates from the BJP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

About 23% of candidates contesting the Puducherry Assembly polls have declared criminal cases against their names, while 41% are crorepatis, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms said.

The NGO working on electoral reforms analysed the affidavits of 291 out of the 294 candidates contesting the 30 seats in the elections scheduled for April 9. The results will be out on May 4.

Out of the 294 contesting candidates, 34 are from national parties, 63 from state parties, 80 from registered unrecognised parties, while 117 are Independents.

The report said 66 candidates (23%) have declared criminal cases against their names, compared to 54 (17%) out of 323 candidates in 2021.

Of the 66, 38 (13%) face serious criminal cases, compared to 28 (9%) in 2021.

Among the major parties, 3 out of 21 candidates from the Congress, 4 out of 16 from the All India NR Congress (AINR), 6 out of 12 from the DMK, and 5 out of 10 candidates from the BJP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

Among the major parties, 17 out of 21 Congress candidates, 16 out of 16 AINR nominees, 11 out of 12 DMK candidates, and all 10 nominees of the BJP have declared assets valued at more than ₹1 crore.

The total assets of 291 candidates stood at ₹2,099 crore, an average of ₹7.21 crore per nominee, the report said.