Criminalisation in politics is a growing concern in India. Instances of political criminal activities in a few of the largest states in the country provide an idea of the seriousness of the problem. In this piece, we will analyse the criminalisation of politics in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, two of the largest states in India.

2007, 2012 and 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections

Uttar Pradesh is the largest state demographically with 17.35% of India’s population, the fourth largest state geographically(7.33% land area) and the state with the highest number of seats in the Lok Sabha (15.15%). Usually, for any political party to get a full majority in Lok Sabha, it needs to win Uttar Pradesh. Its significance can be gauged from the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government at the centre twice in 2014 and 2019, winning the highest number of seats of its total tally from Uttar Pradesh, 71 out of 282 in 2014 and 62 out of 303 in 2019.

According to the ADR data of last 3  three assembly elections (2007, 2012 and 2017), there were 1237 contesting candidates out of 18170, accused of serious criminal cases such as attempted murder, assaulting public servant, involved in criminal conspiracy, dacoity etc. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the party in power in the 2007 Vidhan Sabha Elections, fielded 240 (19.5%) candidates out of these 1237. The Samajwadi Party (SP), which formed the government in 2021, had 214 (17.3%) candidates charged with serious criminal cases. BJP, the current state and national government, fielded 188 (15.2%) candidates accused of serious criminal cases. The Indian National Congress (INC) had 109 (8.8%) candidates. The rest of the percentage was covered by independent candidates and other parties. Of 1237 candidates, 1200 were men and 37 were women. 197 candidates are political defectors and 351 have not even filed Income Tax Return.

Table 1.1 Number of candidates accused of serious criminal cases of respective parties in the last 3  Uttar Pradesh State Assembly Elections 

Year/Parties	BSP	SP	BJP	INC	RLD	Others
2007 (out of 6114)	72	55	42	40	22	72
2012 (out of 6840)	53	82	50	45	6	240
2017(out of 5253)	122	88	100	25	48	113

Figure 1.1 [UP] Comparative Analysis of Political parties with highest number of criminal candidates during 2007, 2012 and 2017 State Assembly Elections
X-axis: Political Parties || Y-axis: Number of candidates accused of criminal charges 

Out of the approximately 5250 candidates, 496 (9.5 %) are charged with serious criminal cases, of which 100 (20.2%) candidates belong to BJP.  

The incumbent BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari from Mau was charged with 13, 15 and 16 criminal cases in the 2007, 2012 and 2017 elections respectively. Upendra Tiwari, a BJP candidate who is MLA for the past two terms has 6 criminal cases against him.

2006, 2011 and 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

Tamil Nadu is the sixth largest state with 5.68% of India’s population and the fifth largest state with 3.96% of land area. One of the most important states in the south, Tamil Nadu too is plagued with the issues of criminalisation of politics.

Analysing the pattern of state politics and unlawful activities by politicians:

There are 308 candidates out of 9330 candidates from 2006 to 2016 charged with serious criminal cases. Of 308 candidates, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had 67 (22%) candidates accused of charges. 47 (15.3%) candidates were from Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK) and 38 (12.4%) from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). 26 (8.4%) were from BJP and 23 (7.5%) from BSP. 23 (7.5%) out of 308 candidates were from Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). 16 (5.2%) were INC candidates and 7 (2.3%) Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi(VCK) candidates. Of 308 candidates, 302 are men and 6 are women. 10 candidates are political defectors and 103 have not even filed Income Tax Return. 

DMK has the highest number of candidates involved in unlawful activities. Yet, the political party represents the state with M.K. Stalin as the Chief Minister. M.K. Stalin himself is accused of 47 serious criminal cases during the 2021 elections and 8 during the 2006 State Elections. 

Table 1.2 Number of candidates accused of serious criminal cases of respective parties during Tamil Nadu State Assembly Elections 2006 to 2011 to 2016

Years/Parties	DMK	PMK	AIADMK	DMDK	BJP	BSP	INC	Others
2006(out of 2600)	22	6	7	3	2	13	4	6
2011(out of 2755)	12	8	31	2	9	2	5	7
2016(out of 3740)	40	36	0	18	15	8	8	58

Figure 1.2 [TN]Comparative Analysis of Political parties with highest number of criminal candidates during 2006, 2011 and 2016 State Assembly Elections 

X-axis: Political Parties || Y-axis: Number of candidates accused of criminal charges

Individual Year Analysis says that in 2016, out of approximately 3740 contesting candidates, 183 (5%) candidates were accused of serious criminal cases and the cohort of DMK had the highest number of candidates.

AIADMK candidate Thaniyarasu U who represented Paramathi Velur constituency in 2011 was charged with 36 criminal cases at the time of election. DMK Candidate Anitha R Radhakrishnan who won the Thoothukudi constituency in 2016 with 16 criminal cases is present-day Minister of Fisheries-Fishermen Welfare and Animal Husbandry.

Conclusion:

Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are two of the most significant states in the country. From murders to extortions to charges of corruption and assault, the high rate of criminalization of politics is worrying. The quotient of winnability and political funding often makes political parties distribute tickets among candidates with criminal antecedents. While it is true that on a few occasions the criminal cases against politicians stem from vendetta politics and vested accusations, these statistics tell us a story of the growing and now acceptable nexus between politics and crime.

Acknowledgements: We thank Priyamvada Trivedi and Avishek Jha for feedback.

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We encourage you to explore the data and use the incumbency tool. It is the product of a lot of time, hard work and love put in by TCPD staff members and our fabulous interns. If you spot errors and/or have any feedback, please get in touch with us at tcpd-contact@ashoka.edu.in

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References

“List of Indian States by population.” Statisticstimes.com, https://statisticstimes.com/demographics/india/indian-states-population.php 

“State-wise Representation of Members.” Loksabha.nic.in, https://loksabha.nic.in/members/StateWiseStatisticalList.aspx 

ADR Data