The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch have released a detailed analysis of the backgrounds of candidates for the first phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. Based on the affidavits of 1,303 out of 1,314 candidates from 121 assembly constituencies, the report demonstrates the deep-rooted nexus of crime and money power in Bihar politics.

The report reveals that 423 (32%) of the 1,303 candidates contesting the first phase have declared criminal cases. Of them, 354 (27%) were booked for serious criminal cases, including 33 for murder, 86 for attempted murder, and 42 for crimes against women and two for rape.

The list of serious criminal cases includes almost all major political parties. Forty nine (43%) of 114 candidates from the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), 16 (18%) of 89 from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 42 (60%) of 70 from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), 15 (26%) of 57 from the Janata Dal United (JDU), 27 (56%) of 48 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), nine (20%) of 44 from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 12 (52%) out of 23 from the Congress (INC), nine (64%) out of 14 from the CPI(ML), five out of 13 from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), four (80%) of 5 from the CPI, and three out of three from the CPI(M) have criminal records.

The situation is equally worrying for the total criminal cases by parties. RJD's 53 (76%) out of 70 candidates, BJP's 31 (65%) out of 48 BJP candidates, Congress's 15 (25%) out of 23 candidates, CPI(ML)'s 13 (93%) out of 14 candidates, and all CPI and CPI (M) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Apart from this, JSP's 50 (44%) out of 114 candidates, and JDU's 22 (39%) out of 57 candidates have declared criminal cases.

The ADR report states that political parties have completely ignored the Supreme Court's guidelines of February 13, 2020, directing political parties to provide concrete reasons for giving tickets to candidates with criminal antecedents. According to the directive, a candidate should be selected based on their merit, achievements, and social contributions, not on their popularity or political pressure.

The report reveals that for the current election, political parties gave tickets to approximately 32% of candidates with criminal cases.

The report further states that 519 (40%) out of 1,303 candidates are millionaires, with an average wealth of Rs 3.26 crore. This indicates that money power is increasing in elections, and almost every major party is prioritising wealthy candidates, resulting in the dominance of capital in politics and the gradual decrease of common people or middle-class candidates.

Senior journalist Praveen Bagi said the financial strength has now become essential to enter politics. "All major political parties have given preference to wealthy candidates in ticket distribution, which clearly shows that the power of money is playing a decisive role in winning elections. The report raises questions about the ethics of political parties," Bagi added.

JSP's 81 out of 114 candidates, RJD's 68 out of 70 candidates, JDU's 52 out of 57 candidates, BJP's 44 out of 48 candidates, Congress's 18 out of 23 candidates, LJP's 10 out of 13 candidates, BSP's 27 out of 89 candidates, AAP's 13 out of 44 candidates, CPI's 3 out of 5 candidates, CPI(M)'s 2 out of 3 candidates and CPI(ML)'s 2 out of 14 candidates are crorepatis.

On the educational background, ADR says 519 candidates declared their educational qualifications between Class 5 and Class 12, while 651 candidates (50%) declared graduation or higher. The remaining candidates have lower levels of education. Bagi says the report also states that many candidates with low educational qualifications are millionaires, indicating that financial strength has now become more influential than educational qualifications.

According to the report, the share of women candidates in the first phase is only 9%, indicating their poor representation in state politics. While all parties talk about women's empowerment, they do not adequately represent them in ticket distribution, ADR said.

The report identifies 91 (75%) of the 121 seats in the first phase as sensitive, where three or more candidates have criminal cases against them. ADR has suggested that the Election Commission should pay special attention to these areas so that voters can cast their votes without fear.

In the report, ADR further notes that the increasing role of crime and money power in Bihar's politics poses a serious threat to the quality of democracy. "Political parties have repeatedly proven that they have no interest in reforming the electoral system. It has become a norm to give tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds. The result is that lawbreakers, after winning elections, become lawmakers," it stated.