New Delhi, October 22, 2025 – In a damning indictment of India's political class, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has exposed that 151 sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across the country are grappling with pending criminal cases related to crimes against women, with a shocking 16 facing rape charges under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The findings, drawn from the latest analysis of election affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), underscore a persistent rot in legislative accountability, where lawmakers accused of grave offenses continue to wield power amid judicial delays and systemic impunity.
The ADR and National Election Watch (NEW) report, released in August 2024 and serving as the most comprehensive data available into 2025 ahead of state elections, scrutinized affidavits from 4,693 sitting legislators – 755 MPs and 3,938 MLAs across 28 states and eight union territories. Of these, a troubling 3.22% (151 individuals) have self-declared cases involving atrocities against women, ranging from assault on modesty (IPC 354) and sexual harassment (IPC 354A) to dowry deaths (IPC 304B) and human trafficking (IPC 372/373). Rape cases, carrying minimum sentences of seven to ten years' rigorous imprisonment (extendable to life or death), represent the most heinous subset, with two MPs and 14 MLAs implicated – none convicted, all pending trial.
Party-wise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads with 54 accused lawmakers (44 MLAs and 10 MPs), accounting for over a third (35.76%) of the total, followed by the Indian National Congress (INC) with 23 (22 MLAs and one MP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 17 MLAs, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with 13 MLAs, and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with 10 MLAs. For rape charges specifically, BJP and INC are tied at five each, highlighting a bipartisan failure in candidate vetting. Other parties like TDP, AAP, AITC, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and smaller outfits such as AIUDF and Bharat Adivasi Party each have one.
State-wise, West Bengal emerges as the epicenter of concern, with the highest number of accused legislators (exact figure not specified in aggregates but flagged as leading in multiple profiles, including AITC's Hamidul Rahaman facing rape charges). Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh follow closely, with clusters of cases under IPC 354 (assault to outrage modesty) and 509 (insulting modesty of a woman). For instance, in Andhra Pradesh, TDP's Chintamaneni Prabhakar faces rape alongside multiple harassment counts, while in Maharashtra, BJP's Ravindra Dattatray Chavan is charged with rape, cruelty (IPC 498A), and assault.
High-profile examples spotlight the human cost: Goa BJP MP Atanasio Monserrate, accused of rape under IPC 376 and POCSO provisions since 2019 (charges framed September 26, 2019); BJP's Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao (MP from Telangana) facing a single rape count; INC's Vinay Kulkarni (MLA from Maharashtra) with three rape charges; and AAP's Mohinder Goyal (MLA from Punjab) implicated in one. Other notables include BJD's Braja Kishore Pradhan (Odisha MLA, rape and assault) and AIUDF's Nijam Uddin Choudhury (Assam MP, rape). The report notes over 200 individual charges across these profiles, often compounded with attempts (IPC 511) or related offenses like kidnapping (IPC 363/366), spanning incidents from 1979 to 2024 – many from the COVID-19 era under epidemic disease sections.
"This is not just a statistic; it's a betrayal of the trust placed in our elected representatives," said ADR convenor Jagdeep Chhokar in a statement accompanying the report. "With judicial backlogs allowing these cases to linger for years, victims face double victimization through harassment and interference." The analysis reveals no convictions for women-specific crimes among the accused, though minor fines for unrelated offenses (e.g., IPC 188 violations) appear in some affidavits, like that of YSRCP's Peddireddy Dwarakanatha Reddy.
ADR's recommendations are unequivocal and urgent: (1) Enact a law barring candidates with pending serious criminal cases (including crimes against women) from contesting elections; (2) Mandate swift trials within one year for such cases involving public officials; (3) Empower state women's commissions with investigative autonomy and witness protection; (4) Require political parties to publicly disclose and justify nominations of candidates with criminal histories; and (5) Launch nationwide voter awareness campaigns via ECI to prioritize clean slates in polls. "Voters must demand zero tolerance; parties should self-regulate before the law does," the report urges, timed critically ahead of 2025 assembly elections in Bihar, Delhi, and others.
Reactions poured in swiftly. Women's rights activists, including Kavita Krishnan of the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), decried the findings as "a national shame," linking them to broader failures in implementing the 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act post-Nirbhaya. "When rapists make rape laws, justice is a farce," she posted on X. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra dismissed the report as "politically motivated," claiming the party has "expelled tainted members," while INC's Jairam Ramesh countered that "clean politics starts at home – BJP's lead exposes their hypocrisy." The Supreme Court, which in 2020 mandated disclosure of criminal antecedents, has been urged by ADR to enforce stricter penalties for non-compliance.
As India marks the 13th anniversary of the Nirbhaya case this December, these revelations serve as a grim mirror to progress stalled. With 47% of ministers nationwide facing criminal cases overall (per a separate September 2025 ADR report), the spotlight on gender-based violence intensifies calls for reform. For the 151 women and families ensnared in these shadows, the path to justice remains fraught – but the public's verdict at the ballot box could yet rewrite the narrative.
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