Over the past five years, 480 candidates with declared hate speech cases have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha, as per the ADR report.

As many as 107 Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) in India have hate speech cases registered against themselves, as per poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The information was obtained from the self-sworn affidavits submitted by lawmakers prior to their last contested election. The data was analysed by the ADR and National Election Watch (NEW).

The analysis further revealed that over the past five years, 480 candidates with declared hate speech cases have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha.

Among the MPs, 33 have declared hate speech cases against themselves. These include seven from Uttar Pradesh, four from Tamil Nadu, three each from Bihar, Karnataka, and Telangana, two each from Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, and one each from Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, and Punjab, the ADR said.

According to the ADR, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the highest number of MPs with hate speech cases at 22, followed by two from the Congress and one each from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), AIMIM, AIUDF, DMK, MDMK, PMK, Shiv Sena, and the VCK, along with one Independent MP.

Meanwhile, a total of 74 MLAs have declared hate speech cases against themselves. The data includes nine each from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, six each from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, five each from Assam and Tamil Nadu, four each from Delhi, Gujarat, and West Bengal, three each from Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, two each from Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Tripura, and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

Among the MLAs, 20 with hate speech cases are from the BJP, 13 from the Congress, six from the AAP, five each from the SP and YSRCP, four each from the DMK and RJD, three each from the AITC and SHS, two from the AIUDF, and one each from the AIMIM, CPI(M), NCP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, TDP, Tipra Motha Party, and TRS, along with two Independent MLAs.