By Karan Thapar

This week we have a telling portrait of the Bihar elections and it’s not a pretty picture. The Association for Democratic Reforms, under its Coordinator Bibhu Mohapatra, has released a comprehensive analysis of candidates with pending criminal cases. It’s horrifying.

There are 2135 candidates standing in the four phases of the Bihar elections. Leaving out the non-serious, the dummies and a few hopeless independents, ADR has analysed the remaining 1607. Of these 446, or 28 per cent, have been charged with criminal cases ranging from murder and rape to unlawful assembly and creating a public nuisance.

This time the big five (BJP, JD(U), RJD, INC and LJP) have put up a higher percentage of candidates accused of crimes. In February it was around 37 per cent. Now it’s risen to almost 40. And the BJP indisputably tops the list. In ascending order, 32 per cent of Congress candidates, 37 per cent of LJP, 39 per cent of JD(U) and 42 per cent of RJD face criminal cases. The BJP comes in at 49 per cent. So now we know what the BJP means when it calls itself a party with a difference!

An analysis of the percentage of alleged criminals fielded by the parties hints at some interesting conclusions. As the election has progressed the figure fielded by the BJP has grown markedly. It was 44 per cent in phases one and two but 54 in phase three and 58 in phase four. In fact the only party with a higher percentage in phase four is the BJP’s ally JD(U). It has a tally of 64 per cent. Also, in each of the four phases the BJP tally is higher than any of the other major parties. Is this desperation?

However, it’s when you look at how the parties fare in terms of candidates charged with specific crimes – murder, rape, kidnapping, theft and robbery/dacoity – that you get the most revealing results.

The RJD has the highest number of candidates accused of either murder or attempt to murder. It’s 15 and 23 respectively. But the BJP-JD(U) alliance has more candidates accused of both crimes than the RJD-Congress combination. The tally is 49 versus 46. Also, whereas the BJP, RJD, JD(U) and LJP have each fielded one candidate accused of rape the Congress, amazingly, has none in this category.

Now observe how the two big national parties, Congress and BJP, compare in terms of candidates accused of the above mentioned heinous crimes. The ADR analysis gives a very clear picture and the BJP ‘wins’ hands down. Apart from kidnapping, where Congress has a small lead (5 candidates versus the BJP’s 4), elsewhere the BJP is markedly ahead. This is the break-up : Attempt to murder : Congress 6 – BJP 16; Murder : Congress 2 – BJP 6; Theft : Congress 3 – BJP 13; Rape : Congress 0 – BJP 1; Robbery/Dacoity : Congress 1 – BJP 2.

In fact the Congress performance is ‘worse’ than that of any of the other big five. It has the smallest number of candidates accused of murder, attempt to murder, theft and rape.

Of course, I’m only referring to the number of candidates accused of specific crimes. But even in percentage terms the BJP remains ahead. This is surprising because the BJP has fielded 102 candidates compared to 51 by Congress. Despite that the BJP has a larger percentage accused of murder (5.8 versus 3.9), attempt to murder (15.6 versus 11.7) and theft (12.7 versus 5.8). It’s a tie in terms of robbery/dacoity.

But let’s come back to the big picture. The Left parties have fielded as many alleged criminals as anyone else. In fact the top score goes to the CPI(ML). At 54 per cent it’s even ahead of the BJP! The CPM comes in at 36 per cent and the CPI at 28. So much for their higher morality!

Surprisingly, the cleanest of the lot is Mayawati’s BSP. Although it’s fielded 212 candidates, substantially more than any of the big five, its percentage of candidates facing criminal charges is only 16. To put that in perspective, it’s one-third of the BJP figure and half that of Congress.

If there is a conclusion it’s a rather bewildering one. Do you remember the old ditty ‘Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of us all’? The answer seems to be Mayawati! And then, in descending order, Sonia Gandhi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, Laloo/Rabri and L.K. Advani. I’m afraid the ugly face of this election is the BJP.