In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases of hate speech contested in the state assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections, the ADR said.

She said the 22 MPs in cases related to hate speech are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two from the Congress and one each from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), AIMIM, AIUDF, DMK, MDMK, PMK and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). and the VCK, along with one independent MP.

Seventy-four local law assistants have announced hate speech cases against them. Nine each from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, six each from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana, five each from Assam and Tamil Nadu, four each from Delhi, Gujarat and West Bengal, three each from Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, and two each from Karnataka and Punjab. Rajasthan and Tripura and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

Twenty MLAs with hate speech cases against them are from the BJP, 13 from the Congress, six from the AAP, five each from the SP and YSRCP, four each from the DMK and RJD, three each from the AITC and SHS, two from the AIUDF and one each from AIMIM, CPI(M), NCP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, TDP, Tipra Motha and TRS, as well as two independent MLAs