Tamil Nadu Elections 2026: 722 contesting candidates face criminal cases, finds ADR report

As per the detailed investigation carried out by ADR and TNEW over the past couple of months, out of the 3992 candidates analysed in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026, at least 722 (18%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Notably, out of these 733 candidates, 404 (10%) have declared serious criminal cases. This data point was put together by ADR, a research body founded by prominent professors and researchers across India.

Distribution of candidates with criminal cases across parties

As per statements made by Jayaram Venkatesan, State Coordinator of Arappor Iyakkam earlier today, the number of candidates with criminal cases is well spread across different parties contesting in the upcoming Tamil Nadu polls.

The distribution of candidates with serious and other criminal cases is posted below:

For a historical point of comparison, in 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, the number of candidates with declared criminal cases was 466 (13%) of 3559 of the contestants.

What cases are considered to be serious criminal cases?

As per information available on ADR’s website, the label of serious criminal cases is primarily attached to complaints where the offence a contestant is accused of has maximum punishment is of 5 years or more.

The label of serious criminal cases is also attached if an offence is non-bailable or an electoral offence. Furthermore, cases containing allegations of the following offences also fall under the category of serious criminal cases.

How did ADR come to these findings?

In order to come to these detailed findings, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Tamil Nadu Election Watch analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 3992 out of 4023 candidates, who are contesting in the Tamil Nadu 2026 Assembly Elections.

Notably, the civic research bodies were not able to analyse the profiles of 31 candidates as their affidavits were either badly scanned or complete affidavits were not uploaded on the ECI website. The details of these candidates are given below: