What works in Bihar | Association for Democratic Reforms

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Date

09/21/2015 - 12:00

City

Patna

Do candidates with criminal cases stand a better chance of winning? What about those with deep pockets? Does the education level matter? An analysis of 10 years of data of candidates’ and MPs and MLAs, from 2004 to 2014 by Association of Democratic Reforms & Bihar Election Watch reveals some interesting numbers.

1.

Who’s been surveyed

Candidates who contested parliamentary, state assembly polls and/or legislative council elections since 2004.

2.

Crime graph

32% of all candidates declared criminal cases; 20% declared serious criminal cases.

52% MPs/MLAs had criminal cases; 30% faced serious charges.

3.

Average assets (figures in crore)

Candidates:

BJP (275) - 5.5; JD(U) (379) - 5.5; Cong (327) - 1.5 ; RJD (404) - 0.95 ; LJP (285) - 0.5 ; Independent candidates - 0.36

MPs/MLAs:

JD(U)(238) - 3.6Cong (22) - 3.1BJP (190) - 2.4LJP (285) - 1.1RJD (105) - 0.9IND (19) - 0.6

Average assets of male MPs/MLAs since 2004 is Rs. 2.57 crore and average assets of women MPs/MLAs is Rs. 1.61 crore.

4.

Correlation between criminal charges and chances of winning

8% Chances of winning an election without any criminal charges; 19% Chances of winning election with criminal records.

Candidates: 68% (3,597) with no criminal charges; 32%(1,717) with criminal charges.

MP/MLAs: 48% (299) With no criminal charges; 52% (321) With criminal charges.

5.

Mapping education and criminal cases

Candidates: 46% (2,446) graduates or above 33% of them have criminal cases. 53% (2,868) 12th pass and below 31% of them have criminal cases.

MP/MLAs: 59% (368) graduates or above 49% of them faced criminal cases. 41% (252) 12th pass and below 56% of them faced criminal cases.