Ahead of the polling for the second phase of the Bihar Assembly Elections on Tuesday (November 11, 2025), a report released by the non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed that over 30% or 415 of the 1,297 (out of a total of 1,302) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Of these, 341 (or 26%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. These details have come to light on ADR’s analysis of self-sworn affidavits of the candidates, which is as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in compliance with the Supreme Court.

Over 50% of the candidates from major parties like BJP, Congress, RJD, and Jan Suraaj Party have criminal cases. Among the major contesting parties, the number and share of candidates who have serious a

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