Out of 4,001 legislators of state assemblies across the country, 1,777 or 44% have declared criminal cases against them, the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) said in a report on Saturday.

479 BJP (35% of total MLAs), Congress 334 (46%) and Dravida Munnetra Kalagam 99 (76%) MLAs have criminal cases.

In terms of serious criminal cases, the BJP is said to have the highest number of MLAs at 337 (25% of total MLAs), followed by the Congress at 194 (27%) and the Trinamool Congress at 77 (34%).

The ADR defines serious offenses as non-bailable offenses that carry a maximum sentence of five years and above. These are offenses related to assault, murder, kidnapping and rape, as well as crimes against women and corruption cases.

Uttar Pradesh had more than 202 (50% of total MLAs) MLAs with declared criminal cases in 2022. Maharashtra followed with 175 (62%) MLAs in 2019 and Bihar 161 (67%) MLAs in 2020 declaring criminal cases.

In terms of wealth, three MLAs from the Congress have declared assets of Rs 1,000 crore and above. DK Sivakumar, independent candidate KH Puttaswamy Gowda and Priyakrishna.

Least Declared Assets: BJP’s Nirmal Kumar Dhara has possession of declared assets worth Rs 1,700. Following that, independent candidate Makaranda Muduli has possession of declared assets worth Rs 15,000 and Aam Aadmi Party’s Narinder Pal Singh Sawna has possession of declared assets worth Rs 18,370.