A crowd gathers to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public rally for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. As many as 63% of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates who contested the first phase of polls in West Bengal are facing serious criminal charges. | Photo credit: ANI
Every fifth candidate for the first stage West Bengal Assembly Elections294 out of 1,475 poll aspirants have self-declared serious criminal cases in their affidavits, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch has revealed. Fully 23% of the candidates (345) in the poll pledged to face criminal charges.
“Serious criminal case” is defined as a case involving offenses with a maximum sentence of five years or more, non-bailable offences, electoral offenses or charges related to assault, murder, kidnapping, rape and crimes against women and children.
Published – 21 April 2026 15:30 IST
