Kerala polls 2026: 38% candidates face criminal cases; 39% crorepatis, says ADR report

New Delhi, Around 38 per cent of the candidates contesting the Kerala Assembly polls have declared criminal cases against their names, while 39 per cent are crorepatis, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Saturday.

The report analysed 863 candidates for the April 9 elections. Of these, 324 face criminal cases, with 201 declaring serious criminal charges.

In comparison, 355 out of 928 examined candidates had criminal cases in 2021, with 167 facing serious criminal charges.


The findings show 72 out of 85 Congress candidates have declared criminal cases. For the BJP, the number stands at 59 out of 93, while CPI(M) has 51 out of 77 candidates reporting such cases.

The IUML has 21 out of 25 candidates declaring criminal cases, while 13 out of 24 CPI candidates face similar charges.

When it comes to serious criminal cases, 60 out of 85 Congress candidates, 39 out of 93 from the BJP, 21 out of 77 CPI(M) nominees, 13 out of 25 IMUL candidates, and 2 out of 24 CPI contestants face such charges.

The report also noted that 15 candidates reported cases related to crimes against women, including one case involving repeated rape.

Additionally, four candidates declared murder charges, and 13 reported attempts to murder.

The report observed that Supreme Court directives have not influenced the political parties in their candidate selection, as around 38 per cent candidates have criminal backgrounds.

Notably, a Supreme Court order dated February 13, 2020, had instructed political parties to furnish reasons for selecting candidates with criminal records over those with no criminal antecedents.

The ADR said that in two state polls held in 2025, it was observed that political parties provided "unfounded" and "baseless" reasons, such as the "popularity" of the nominee, "record of social work", "cases were politically motivated", etc., to justify their selections.

"These are not sound and cogent reasons for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds," the ADR said.

In terms of candidates' financial status, the report states that 339 of the analysed candidates are crorepatis, including 61 from the Congress, 52 from the BJP, and 52 from the CPI(M).

The IUML has 21 in this category, while the CPI has 12 nominees declaring assets exceeding Rs 1 crore.

The total assets of the 863 analysed candidates amount to Rs 2,403 crore, making the average assets per candidate Rs 2.78 crore, marking a notable increase from Rs 1.69 crore per candidate in 2021.

"The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates," the report observed. PTI