More than one-third of candidates elected in the just concluded Assembly polls have criminal cases against them, with Uttar Pradesh topping the list.

35 per cent or 252 of the 690 MLAs elected to the five Assemblies -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhan, Manipur and Goa -- have criminal background, a rise of eight per cent since 2007.

Also, 66 per cent or 457 of the newly elected MLAs were 'crorepatis', according to an analysis of affidavits the candidates had submitted to the Election Commission.

The analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch also shows that compared to Assembly elections in 2007, there is over 32 per cent increase in the number of crorepati MLAs and about eight per cent rise in the winning candidates with a criminal past this time.

In 2007, voters in these five states had chosen about 190 or 27 per cent MLAs with criminal past, while more than 235 or 34 per cent of candidates having assets worth more than one crore were elected to those assemblies.

According to the analysis, a total of 189 (47 per cent) new MLAs in the new Uttar Pradesh Assembly have declared criminal cases against them, compared to 140 (34 per ent) in the 2007 Assembly.

Similarly, 271 or 67 per cent new MLAs in the state are crorepatis, compared to 124 crorepati MLAs elected in 2007.

While Samajwadi Party's Mitra Sen who won from Bikapur seat topped the list of tainted MLAs with 36 criminal cases, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Congress from Suar constituency topped the rich list with a declared total assets worth Rs 56.89 crore followed by Shah Alam of BSP from Mubarakpur with assets worth Rs. 54.44 Crores.