251 of the 543 newly elected members have criminal cases registered against them and 27 of them have been convicted, revealed an analysis done by the Association of Democratic Reforms.

The 2024 Lok Sabha polls were historic not only in terms of the number of voters (64.2 crore), but also for the wrong reasons. A record 251 (46 percent) of the 543 newly elected members have criminal cases registered against them and 27 of them have been convicted, revealed an analysis done by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

A total of 233 MPs (43 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves in 2019, 185 (34 per cent) in 2014, 162 (30 percent) in 2009 and 125 (23 percent) in 2004, the ADR analysis report revealed.

Among the 251 winning candidates this year having criminal cases against them, 170 (31 percent) face serious charges, including rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women. This is also an increase from 159 (29 percent) MPs in 2019, 112 (21 percent) MPs in 2014, and 76 (14 percent) MPs in 2009, the analysis showed.

The analysis also highlights specific cases among the winning candidates. It revealed that 27 winning candidates have declared they have been convicted in criminal cases. Four declared cases related to murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 27 declared cases related to attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC.

Fifteen winning candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women, including two facing charges of rape under IPC Section 376. Four winning candidates have declared cases related to kidnapping and 43 have declared cases related to hate speech.

The winning chances for a candidate with declared criminal cases in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections stood at 15.3 percent.

Of the 240 winning candidates of the BJP, which emerged as the largest party in the 18th Lok Sabha, 94 (39 percent) have declared criminal cases, according to the ADR, which further said 49 (49 per cent) of the Congress’ 99 winning candidates have declared criminal cases and 21 (45 percent) of the Samajwadi Party’s 37 candidates face criminal charges. From the TMC, which won 29 seats, 13 (45%) declared criminal cases against them and 13 (59 percent) of the DMK’s 22, 8 (50 per cent) of the TDP’s 16, and five (71 percent) of the Shiv Sena’s seven winning candidates have declared criminal cases.

Sixty-three (26 percent) BJP candidates, 32 (32 percent) Congress candidates and 17 (46 percent) SP candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them, the ADR found in its analysis. In case of TMC 7 (24 percent) candidates, six (27 percent) of DMK, five (31 percent) of TDP and four (57 percent) Shiv Sena candidates face serious criminal cases, it further noted.