An analysis of documents filed by candidates of Lok Sabha elections in Bihar during 2004-2014 revealed that there has been a rise of 122% in the number of contestants with criminal records.

Political parties in Bihar seem to have increasingly relied on leaders with criminal antecedents to bolster their electoral prospects over the past one decade.

An analysis of documents filed by candidates of Lok Sabha elections during 2004-2014 revealed that there has been a rise of 122% in the number of contestants with criminal records. Similarly, the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected from the state who had criminal cases pending against them grew to 87% in 2014 as compared to 2004.

This startling revelation was made by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch here on Sunday after scrutiny of affidavits filed by the candidates during the same period.

State coordinator of ADR, Rajiv Kumar, said of the 599 candidates in the fray for 2014 Lok Sabha polls, 184 had declared they were facing criminal cases. Of 184, 133 candidates had criminal cases of serious nature like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, dacoity, rape, etc. “No wonder that 50% of the elected MPs from Bihar in 2014 had criminal cases of serious nature pending against them,” said Kumar.

The BJP, which won 22 Parliament seats in Bihar, has the highest number of MPs (16) with declared criminal cases. Eight of them have been charged with serious offences. The RJD also does not lag behind, as all its four MPs are facing cases of serious nature like their counterparts of the Congress.

“About 70% MPs declared there are criminal cases against them during 2014 polls, as against 42% in 2009 and 38% in 2004,” said Rajiv, adding that the scenario in the state polls was equally worrisome. “There has been 96% rise in the number of contestants with criminal cases for the state assembly polls from 2005 to 2015. The number of elected MLAs with criminal cases also went up by 43% in 2015 vis-à-vis 2005,” he added.

As many as 96 MLAs out of the total 243 elected in 2015 are facing cases of serious nature. Of them, 34 belong to RJD, followed by 27 of JD (U) and 19 of BJP. The Congress too has 11 out of 27 legislators in the house with cases of serious crime against them. The JD (U) dominated the house constituted after 2010 elections with 39 MLAs, who have declared facing serious criminal cases, followed by the BJP (23 MLAs).

Retired professor of BRABU Rohitashwa Dubey and lawyer Prabhakar Kumar, who were among the ADR team, said their studies had prompted various electoral reforms in the country. Reiterating the ADR’s resolve to sensitise the electors to opt for leaders with good track records, the ADR officials favoured the idea of barring all leaders, who were charge-sheeted by the police in any criminal case, from contesting the elections.