Delhi polls: 24 candidates with criminal cases fielded without justification, ADR flags non-compliance

Out of 118 candidates with criminal record contesting the Delhi Assembly polls, 24 candidates (20 per cent) did not have their records disclosed or justified by their respective parties, poll rights body ADR said on Tuesday.

A total of 699 candidates are contesting the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has released a detailed analysis of the Delhi Assembly elections 2025. The report, based on Format C7 data, revealed that many political parties failed to disclose reasons for selecting candidates with pending criminal cases as directed by the Supreme Court.

Out of 699 candidates contesting the elections, 118 have declared criminal cases against themselves and among them, 71 candidates face serious criminal charges, including corruption, rioting and violent offenses.

While 94 candidates' criminal records were published as mandated, 24 candidates (20%) did not have their records disclosed or justified by their respective parties.

The Supreme Court had mandated that political parties provide valid reasons for fielding such candidates beyond just their "winnability" at the polls.

However, most parties continue to offer vague or repetitive justifications.

The analysis covered 22 political parties that fielded candidates with criminal cases.

The major parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) published Format C7 for most of their candidates.

However, the smaller parties, including the Peoples Party of India (Democratic) and Bhartiya Rashtrawadi Party, failed to comply.

Some parties engaged in questionable practices such as providing identical justifications for multiple candidates or claiming cases were "politically motivated" without substantial evidence.

The AIMIM and the National Loktantrik Party also copied responses across different candidates, the ADR said.

Among the candidates with the highest number of criminal cases are Amanatullah Khan (AAP) with 19 cases, Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) with 15 cases and Mohd. Tahir Hussain (AIMIM) with 11 cases, including 38 serious charges.

The political parties justified their selection by citing their political experience, popularity and claims that cases against them were filed due to political vendetta.

However, these explanations often lacked substantive reasoning on why cleaner candidates were not considered, the ADR said.

The ADR report also underscores the strong nexus between muscle power, money and politics.

Out of the 118 candidates with criminal backgrounds, 84 (71%) are crorepatis and the top three candidates with the highest declared assets, despite having criminal cases, include Manjinder Singh Sirsa (BJP) with Rs 248 crore, Gurcharan Singh (Congress) with Rs 130 crore and Parvesh Sahib Singh (BJP) with Rs 115 crore.

The ADR has proposed several urgent reforms to curb the criminalization of politics. These include strict action against non-compliant political parties, fast-tracking criminal cases against politicians, banning candidates with serious charges and imposing financial penalties for non-disclosure.

The elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8.

Delhi Assembly Election 2025 | The first of two state assembly polls this year sees a three-way contest between AAP, Congress, and BJP in the nation's capital. AAP decided to contest the polls alone, causing rumours of a rift in I.N.D.I.A. BJP, meanwhile, is hoping the liquor excise policy scam and pollution in Delhi will give the saffron party an edge over AAP. Kejriwal, on the other hand, has different plans with his demand for reservations for Delhi Jats. Congress will also be looking to make its presence felt and has not held back from attacking its own alliance partner. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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