Over half of new Bengal MLAs face serious criminal charges, says ADR report; 68 have murder, attempt to murder cases

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to form its first government in West Bengal since Independence, after scripting a landslide victory in the recently held assembly elections, effectively ending TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule.

The BJP won 207 seats, reducing TMC to 80 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly.

Election watchdogs, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch, analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 292 out of 293 winning candidates in the West Bengal Assembly Elections, the results of which were announced on 4 May.

Elections in the Falta constituency have been cancelled. One BJP winning candidate, namely Arjun Singh from Noapara constituency, was not analysed due to an unclear affidavit uploaded on the ECI website, ADR said.

Here is what ADR analysis has found

Criminal Background

• Winning Candidates with Criminal Cases: Of the 292 winning candidates analysed, 190 (65%) have declared criminal cases against themselves. This number was 142 or 49% in the 2021 assembly elections.

• Winning Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: The ADR report found that 170 of 290 (58%) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. This number was 113 or 39% in 2021.
• Serious criminal cases generally refer to grave offences under criminal law, where the alleged crime involves murder, attempt to murder, rape, or kidnapping.

• Winning Candidates with Declared Cases Related to Murder: As many as 14 winning candidates have declared cases related to murder against themselves, the report said.
• Winning Candidates with Declared Cases Related to Attempt to Murder: As many as 54 winning candidates have declared cases related to Attempt to murder against themselves.

• Winning Candidates with Declared Cases Related to Crime Against Women: As many as 63 winning candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 63 winning candidates, 2 winning candidates have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376) and a person committing rape repeatedly on the same woman (IPC Section- 376(2)(n)), the report said.

Party-wise Winning Candidates with Criminal Cases

• As many as 152 or 74% out of 206 winning candidates from the BJP, 34 or 43 per cent out of 80 winning candidates from the TMC, and 2 out of 2 winning candidates from the Aam Janata Unnayan Party have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
• Party Wise Winning Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: As many as 141 or 68 per cent out of 206 winning candidates from BJP, 25 ot 31 per cent out of 80 winning candidates from TMC, 2 out of 2 winning candidates from Aam Janata Unnayan Party have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Financial Background

• Crorepati Winning Candidates: As many as 178 candidates in the new Bengal assembly are crorepatis. In 2021, this number was 158.
• Party-wise, crorepati winning candidates: 114 out of 206 winning candidates from BJP, 59 out of 80 from TMC, and 2 out of 2 from Aam Janata Unnayan Party have declared assets worth more than ₹1 crore.

• The total assets of 292 winning candidates are ₹1,091 Crores.
• The average of assets per winning candidate in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 is ₹3.73 Crores. The average of assets per MLA in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 was ₹2.53 crore.
• The average assets per winning candidate for 206 BJP candidates is ₹2.97 Crores, and 80 TMC MLAs have an average of ₹5.36 Crores.

Education Details

• As many as 92 or 32 per cent winning candidates have declared their educational qualification between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 185 winning candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above.