Bihar Elections: A latest analysis reveals that a staggering 80% of Bihar's sitting MLAs are crorepatis, with 66% declaring criminal cases against themselves. As elections approach, the financial and criminal backgrounds of these lawmakers raise critical questions about governance.

Bihar Elections: At least 66 per cent, or two-thirds, of the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the outgoing House in Bihar have declared criminal cases against themselves. Forty-nine per cent MLAs have declared serious criminal cases, an analysis by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on 13 October.

ADR and Bihar Election Watch have analysed the criminal, financial and other background details of 241 out of 243 sitting MLAs ahead of next month's assembly elections.

This analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by candidates prior to the 2020 Assembly elections and the subsequent bypolls. Details of the 2 MLAs who have not been analysed due to the unavailability of their properly scanned and complete affidavits, the ADR said.

The 243 assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases on 6 November and 11 November, with counting of votes to be held on 14 November

This upcoming electoral contest will be between the NDA, led by the BJP, and Janata Dal (United), and the INDIA bloc, led by Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Here are key findings from the ADR report:

Criminal Background

-Out of 241 sitting MLAs analysed, 158 (66 per cent) sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

-As many as 119 (49%) sitting MLAs have declared serious criminal cases.

-16 sitting MLAs have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).

-30 Sitting MLAs have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC section 307).

-8 Sitting MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women.

Party-wise sitting MLAs with criminal cases:

-53 (64%) out of 83 MLAs from BJP, 53 (74%) out of 72 MLAs from RJD, 21 (45%) out of 47 MLAs from JD(U), 14 (82%) out of 17 MLAs from Congress have declared criminal cases.

Another 9 (82%) out of 11 MLAs from CPI(ML)(L), 1 (25%) out of 4 MLAs from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), 2 (100%) out of 2 MLAs from CPI(M), 2 (100%) out of 2 MLAs from CPI, 1 (100%) out of 1 MLA from All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and 2 (100%) out of 2 Independent MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party-wise sitting MLAs with serious criminal cases:

41 (49%) out of 83 MLAs from the BJP, 43 (60%) out of 72 MLAs from the RJD, 13 (28%) out of 47 MLAs from the JD(U), and 9 (53%) out of 17 MLAs from the Congress have serious criminal cases against them.

Another 7 (64%) out of 11 MLAs from CPI(ML)(L), 1 (25%) out of 4 MLAs from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), 2 (100%) out of 2 MLAs from CPI(M), 1 (100%) out of 1 MLA from All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and 2 (100%) out of 2 Independent MLAs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Financial Background

-Out of 241 sitting MLAs analysed, 194 (80%) are crorepatis. This means 4 in 5 sitting MLAs are crorepatis in Bihar.

-The total assets of 241 sitting MLAs are Rs. 1121.61 Crores.

Party-wise crorepati Sitting MLAs

-72 (87%) out of 83 MLAs from BJP, 63 (88%) out of 72 MLAs from RJD, 39 (83%) out of 47 MLAs from JD(U), 13 (76%) out of 17 MLAs from INC, 2 (50%) out of 4 MLAs from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), 1 (50%) out of 2 MLAs from CPI(M), 1 (50%) out of 2 MLAs from CPI, 1 (9%) out of 11 MLAs from CPI(ML)(L) and 2 (100%) out of 2 Independent MLAs have declared assets valued more than ₹1 crore.

Education Details

Out of 241 sitting MLAs analysed, 158 (66 per cent) sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

-82(34%) MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard, while 149 (62%) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. One MLA is a diploma holder. 9 MLAs have declared themselves to be just literate.

-119 (49%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years, while 122 (51%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years.