A study on candidate quality of contestants in the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections of Maharashtra finds that a majority of the candidates are not highly educated, lack relevant grass-roots experience, are hand-picked by political parties based on non-meritorious criteria, and belong to political families with money power. An analysis of "winnability" of candidates suggests that those from politically connected families, high financial standing and party affiliations stand a higher chance of winning elections.
