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About 23 per cent of candidates contesting the Puducherry Assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, including 13 per cent facing serious charges, according to a report by Association for Democratic Reforms. The poll watchdog and Puducherry Election Watch analysed affidavits of 291 out of 294 candidates contesting the 30 seats in elections scheduled for April 9. The results will be declared on May 4.Of the 294 candidates, 66 have declared criminal cases, up from 54 (17 per cent) out of 323 candidates in the 2021 elections. Among them, 38 candidates face serious criminal charges, compared to 28 (9 per cent) in 2021.Among major parties, criminal cases have been declared by 3 of 21 candidates from Congress, 4 of 16 from the All
India NR Congress, 6 of 12 from the DMK, and 5 of 10 from the BJP.
Three candidates have declared cases related to crime against women and two candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves, according to the ADR report. "The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Puducherry Assembly Elections 2026 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 23% candidates with criminal cases," it said. The ADR said major political parties have fielded between 14 per cent and 50 per cent candidates with criminal cases. It also referred to a February 13, 2020 order of the Supreme Court directing parties to explain why candidates with criminal backgrounds are selected over those with clean records.According to the ADR, reasons cited by parties in recent elections, such as a candidate’s popularity, social work record, or claims that cases are politically motivated were “unfounded” and “baseless”. Financial Ananlysis of Puducherry CandidatesOn the financial front, the report said 119 candidates, or 41 per cent, have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, compared to 74 (23 per cent) in 2021. Among major parties, 17 of 21 Congress candidates, all 16 AINR nominees, 11 of 12 DMK candidates, and all 10 BJP candidates are crorepatis.The total declared assets of 291 candidates amount to Rs 2,099 crore, with an average of Rs 7.21 crore per candidate, the report said.The richest candidate contesting in the Puducherry election is Jose Charles Martin from Kamaraj Nagar constituency with a declared asset of over Rs 609 crore. His total income shown in the ITR is at Rs 59 crore. Three Independent candidates have declared zero total assets, as per the report. Out of the total candidates, 34 are from national parties, 63 from state parties, 80 from registered unrecognised parties, and 117 are Independents.
