Elections in Kerala are to be held on Thursday, April 9 and the results will be declared on May 4.

New Delhi: Out of 883 candidates contesting the upcoming elections Kerala According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 324 (38%) candidates in the assembly elections have declared criminal cases, of which 201 (23%) are facing serious charges.Data from affidavits submitted by candidates to the Election Commission of India as part of the nomination process shows that candidates with criminal cases span across party lines. Among major parties, 72 out of 85 Congress candidates, 59 out of 93 BJP candidates and 51 out of 77 CPM candidates have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

Out of 883 candidates, 324 have criminal cases registered against them.

The report also identified a large number of “red alert” constituencies in the state. Of the 140 seats, 59 constituencies (42%) have declared criminal cases against three or more candidates, indicating a high concentration of such candidates in several key constituencies.Overall, 863 candidates out of 883 contesting elections were analyzed by ADR. The affidavits of the remaining candidates could not be evaluated as they were incomplete or unclear.The report also noted that trends remained unchanged compared to previous elections, with little improvement in candidate selection practices. Despite Supreme Court directions on transparency, political parties are fielding candidates with criminal background.Meanwhile, an analysis of criminal, financial and other background details by two NGOs, including the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Kerala Election Watch, has revealed that 70% of sitting MLAs in the Kerala Assembly have self-declared criminal cases against themselves.Kerala Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on Thursday, April 9 and counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.