Out of the 25 candidates in the fray for the two Lok Sabha seats that will witness a bypoll on Monday, over 24 per cent have pending criminal cases against them, according to affidavits submitted to the Election Commission (EC).

Out of the 25, 16 per cent have serious criminal cases, according to an analysis of their sworn affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch. Bypolls are being held to the Bhandara-Gondiya and Palghar Lok Sabha constituencies.

“The candidates are all men and are all literate. Only one candidate dropped out after primary school, four dropped out after middle school and three finished their metric. Seven candidates have declared their educational qualification as 12th pass, whereas five each are graduate and post graduate,” the report reads. The report states that BJP candidate for the Palghar Rajendra Gavit, maximum assets and maximum liabilities. He has shown assets worth Rs 9 crore and liabilities worth Rs 2.93 crore. Seven out of the 25 candidates are crorepatis. There are total four (16 per cent) out of 25 analyzed candidates, who have declared assets below Rs 2 lakhs, the report said.