Clean politics remains only an election slogan as more candidates with criminal record contest Punjab elections

Punjab, considered the breadbasket of India, will vote for its next Assembly on February 14. A total of 1,304 candidates will be contesting for 117 assembly seats. Barring a marginal improvement in the academic qualification of the candidates over 2017, political parties have looked the other way in 2022 and distributed tickets to more candidates that have a criminal record compared to the 2017 Punjab elections.

Let's look at the profile of the candidates who have filed their nominations in 2022 and amongst which will emerge the leaders who will govern Punjab for a five-year term. The data presented below is based on ADR's analysis of 1,276 of the 1,304 sworn affidavits filed by the candidates.

60% of the candidates have little to no education (Class 12 or below). Graduates comprise only 15.6% of the total candidates. Only 22% were highly qualified (professionals and above). The education levels of the candidates in 2022 are marginally better than that of candidates that contested the 2017 Assembly elections (65% below Class 12, 19% Graduates, and 19% highly qualified).

7% of the total candidates in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections are women, just as much as the 2017 Assembly elections. The Congress which has made women's participation and women's welfare its main poll-plank has only 9.4% women amongst its 117 candidates while the AAP has 10.2% women candidates. The Punjab Assembly elections have been male-dominated over the last 15 years with women's participation rate remaining below 10% - 5.3% in 2007, 8.6% in 2012, 7.1% in 2017, and 7.2% in 2022. 

Given the median age of India's population at 28 years, only 6% of the candidates in the 2022 Assembly elections are below 30 years of age. This reflects the growing alienation of the youth from direct participation in India's electoral politics. It also serves as one of the possible reasons for the mismatch between the youth's expectations and the government policies.

49% of the candidates declared assets less than ₹50 lakhs while 33% had assets between ₹50 lakhs to ₹5 crore. 18% fell within the richest bracket of having assets greater than ₹5 crore. The richest candidate has declared assets worth ₹238 crore while 1 candidate has declared assets worth only ₹2 thousand.

With more of the same offered, we as citizens can only exercise greater personal discretion while casting our votes and elect competent leaders who can shape Punjab's destiny for the next five years.