Of the 2,290 candidates in the Telangana Assembly elections this year, 521 candidates have claimed that criminal cases have been registered against them. Most of them belong to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress which are the main parties in the state. As many as 85 Congress candidates are facing criminal cases. Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Telangana Election Watch released this report after analyzing the self-affidavits of 2,290 candidates contesting the Telangana Assembly elections. Out of a total of 2,290 candidates, 355 are from national parties, 175 are from state parties, 771 are from unregistered parties and 989 are contesting independently.
Out of the 2290 candidates contesting in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, 521 candidates have declared that they have criminal cases against them. The report mentioned that 353 of them have serious criminal cases against them. However, out of 1,777 candidates in the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, 368 have declared criminal cases against them. 231 candidates stated that they have serious criminal cases against them.
Among the major parties, 85 out of 118 candidates contested from Congress, 79 out of 111 candidates contested from BJP and 57 out of 119 candidates contested from BRS have criminal cases. 40 out of 107 candidates from BSP, 12 out of 19 candidates from CPM, 10 out of 41 candidates from All India Forward Bloc and 5 out of 9 candidates from All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have stated in their affidavits that they have criminal cases against them.
60 out of 118 candidates who contested from Congress, 54 out of 111 candidates from BJP and 34 out of 119 candidates who contested from BRS have serious criminal cases. 28 out of 107 candidates from BSP, six out of 19 candidates from CPM, seven out of 41 candidates from All India Forward Bloc and three out of nine candidates from MIM have stated in their affidavits that they have serious criminal cases against them.