16th Lok Sabha: 1/3rd of MP is criminal

The 16th Lok Sabha will have the highest number of MPs with criminal cases against them. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which analysed the election affidavits filed before the Election Commission, 34% of the new MPs face criminal charges. The percentage in 2009 and 2004 stood at 30 and 24 respectively.

Among the major parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leads the table with all its four MPs facing criminal charges, followed by the Shiv Sena (15 of 18 MPs) and the Nationalist Congress Party (4 of 5 MPs).

Over a third of the BJP’s new MPs are facing criminal charges and over a fifth face serious criminal charges. For the Congress, the proportion is lower at 18 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

Across parties, candidates facing criminal charges were more than twice as likely to win as compared to those with a clean record, the ADR data shows. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the highest number of candidates with criminal cases against them.

States / UTs	MPs  with Criminal Cases
Maharashtra	30
Uttar Pradesh	28
Bihar	27
Andhra Pradesh	20
Kerala	9
Karnataka	9
Gujarat	9
West Bengal	8
Madhya Pradesh	7
Tamil Nadu	7
Delhi	5
Jharkhand	4
Assam	4
Odisha	4
UTs and Goa	3
Uttarakhand	1
Punjab	1
NE States	1
Himachal Pradesh	1
Jammu & Kashmir	1
Rajasthan	1
Chhattisgarh	1
Haryana	1