As many as 283 of the 3776 candidates who are contesting in the May 16 assembly elections, have criminal cases against themselves, with five of them accused of murder-related charges, according to a study done by the Tamil Nadu Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

Crime records

Based on the sworn affidavits of 997 of the 1107 candidates belonging to the major political parties, the Tamil Nadu Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have found that 283 candidates have admitted to having criminal cases against themselves. Of these, 157 are for serious crimes including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, and crimes against women.

According to Dr Sudharshan, the Tamil Nadu coordinator of the ADR, the five candidates with murder-related charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code are T. Ramachandran (CPI, Thali constituency), K.P.P Samy (DMK, Tiruvottriyur constituency), R. Hariharan (PMK, Vilavancode constituency), R. Kalidas (PMK, Kalasapakkam constituency) and M. Palaniyandi (DMK, Srirangam constituency). The CPI candidate has three murder charges against him.

Financial status

Out of the 997 candidates, 533 were crorepatis, with declared assets of more than Rs.1 crore. The richest of them is Congress candidate H. Vasanthakumar, with assets of about Rs.337 crores, and an annual income of Rs.22 crores.

Of the 37 candidates from the Congress party, 32 are crorepatis. The BJP has 64 crorepatis among its 176 candidates. Nearly 133 out of the 170 candidates of the DMK, 72 of the 211 candidates from PMK, and 57 out of the 98 candidates from the DMDK are crorepatis.

Age and educational accomplishments

537 of the 997 candidates are between the ages of 25 to 50. 488 candidates hold a minimum graduate degree. Only 10 percent (96) of the candidates of the major parties are women.