As Bihar heads to the polls, a new report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch has revealed alarming figures about the criminal and financial backgrounds of candidates in the state assembly elections.

Based on an analysis of 1,303 out of 1,314 affidavits filed by candidates, the report found that 423 candidates (32%) have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 354 (27%) face serious criminal charges. These include 33 accused in murder cases, 86 in attempted murder cases, and 42 facing charges related to crimes against women. Notably, two candidates have declared rape charges in their affidavits.

Party-wise data shows that both the CPI and CPI(M) have all five candidates each (100%) facing criminal cases. Among major parties, CPI(ML) has 13 o

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