The newly-elected Bihar Assembly has 130 members (53%) facing criminal charges, of whom 102 (42%) face serious criminal charges, according to an analysis of election affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

This marks a slight improvement from 2020, when 163 MLAs (68%) faced criminal charges, of whom 123 (50%) had serious criminal cases.

Among those with serious charges in the newly-elected Assembly, six face murder charges, 19 are accused of attempted murder and nine are charged with crimes against women.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has the highest number of MLAs with criminal cases, at 43, followed by the Janata Dal (United) with 23 and the Rashtriya Janata Dal with 14.

The report is based on an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of all 243 winning candidates in the Bihar 2025 Assembly polls.

The poll watchdog classified serious criminal offences as those that have a maximum punishment of five years or more, are non-bailable, or related to loss to exchequer. These include include assault, murder, kidnap, rape related, or those mentioned in the Representation of the People Act. They also include offences under Prevention of Corruption Act and crimes against women.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance swept the polls on Friday, winning 202 of the 243 total seats in the Assembly.

As part of the alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 89 seats, emerging as the largest party in terms of seat share, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) won 85, almost doubling its tally from the 2020 polls. Their ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) won 19.

The Opposition Mahagathbandhan won 35 seats. Of these, the Rashtriya Janata Dal won 25 constituencies. The Congress won six of the 61 seats it contested and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation clinched two.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, not part of either of the blocs, won five of the 25 seats it had contested.

Average wealth of MLAs doubled since 2020

The election watchdog also analysed the growing influence of wealth and found that the average assets of MLAs more than doubled from Rs 4.3 crore in 2020 to Rs 9.02 crore in 2025.

A total of 218 of the 243 newly elected MLAs had assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, with combined assets amounting to Rs 2,192.93 crore.

The richest MLA is Kumar Pranay of the BJP, representing Munger, with assets worth Rs 170.81 crore. On the other hand, Murari Paswan, also from the BJP, is the poorest MLA, with assets worth just Rs 6.5 lakh.

The average age of the new assembly is 53 years, slightly older than the previous Assembly’s average of 52 years, The Indian Express reported.

The youngest MLA is 25-year-old folk singer Maithili Thakur from the BJP, while the oldest is 79-year-old Bijendra Prasad Yadav from JD(U), the Association for Democratic Reforms said.

Women’s representation in the Assembly has increased marginally, from 26 in 2020 to 29 in 2025, PRS Legislative Research said.

Also read: Bihar elections: Why voters support criminal politicians

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