As many as 65% of newly elected legislators in the West Bengal Assembly have declared criminal cases against themselves, marking a sharp rise from the previous election, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report, which analysed affidavits of all 292 winning candidates in the 2026 Assembly polls, found that 190 MLAs (65%) have declared criminal cases, up from 142 (49%) in 2021. Of these, 170 legislators (58%) face serious criminal charges, compared to 113 (39%) in the previous Assembly.
