The Kerala Assembly polls will see the participation of at least 355 candidates who are facing criminal cases, up from 311 in 2016, a report from the Kerala Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says. The report said 957 candidates are fighting for 140 constituencies in Kerala. Of these, the self-sworn affidavits of 928 candidates were analysed.

“Out of 928 candidates analysed, 364 are from national parties, 52 are from state parties, 201 are from registered unrecognised parties and 311 candidates are contesting independently,” the report, released on Thursday, said. It further said that 29 candidates were not analysed due to unclear affidavit available on the ECI website at the time of making the report.

“Out of 928 candidates analysed, 355 (38 percent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves,” it said, adding 167 (18 percent) candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections, out of 1,125 candidates analysed, 311 (28 percent) had declared criminal cases against themselves, including 138 (12 percent) candidates with declared serious criminal cases against themselves.