KOLKATA: Nearly 44% of sitting MLAs across India have criminal cases against them, while 28% have a history of serious criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, crimes against women, a new report released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed.
The report titled ‘Analysis of Sitting MLAs from 28 State Assemblies and 2 Union territories of India 2023′ analyses 4,001 of the total 4,033 MLAs across 28 state assemblies and two Union territories.
The analysis is based on the self-sworn affidavits of the current MLAs, filed prior to contesting their last elections.
The report reveals that of the 4,001 MLAs analysed across state assemblies, 1,777 (44%) have declared criminal cases against them.
As many as 1,136, or 28%, have declared “serious criminal cases” against them. While the Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not define a ‘serious’ criminal case, ADR considers alleged cases of crimes like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc. as such.
At least 47 MLAs have declared cases related to murder under Section 302 of the IPC.
As many as 181 MLAs have declared cases of attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC.
According to the report, 114 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, of which 14 MLAs have declared cases related to rape under IPC section 376.
Total MLAs across assemblies and Union territories 4,001
MLAs with criminal cases 1,777
MLAs with serious criminal cases 1,136
MLAs with murder cases 47
MLAs with attempt to murder cases 181
MLAs with cases related to crimes against women 114
MLAs with cases related to rape 14
Kerala leads the states with the highest percentage of MLAs with criminal cases
Kerala leads the list with 95 of its 135 MLAs (75%) having criminal cases against them.
This is followed by Bihar with 161 of its 242 MLAs (67%) having criminal cases against them.
Delhi, with 44 of its 70 MLAs (63%), having criminal cases against them, follows the list.
The list is further followed by Maharashtra with 175 of 284 MLAs (62%); Telangana with 72 of its 118 MLAs (61%); and Tamil Nadu with 134 of 224 MLAs (60%) having criminal cases against them.
Delhi tops the list for highest percentage of MLAs with serious criminal cases
As many as 37 (53%) out of 70 MLAs from Delhi have serious criminal cases against them, followed by Bihar with 122 (50%) out of 242 MLAs having such cases against them.
The list continue with Maharashtra with 114 out of 284 MLAs (40%), Jharkhand 31 out of 79 MLAs (39%), Telangana 46 out of 118 MLAs (39%) and Uttar Pradesh with 155 out of 403 MLAs (38%) having declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.
Party-wise analysis
A party-wise analysis of these MLAs has found that 46% of the Congress MLAs have criminal cases while 27% have serious criminal cases against them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been found to fare slightly better as 35% of its MLAs have criminal cases while 25% have serious criminal cases against them.
The report found all MLAs belonging to 14 parties had criminal cases against them.
These parties include Swabhimani Paksha, Revolutionary Marxist Party of India, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Kerala Congress (Jacob), Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, Haryana Lokhit Party, Goa Forward Party, Congress (Secular), Prahar Janshakti Party, Kerala Congress, Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik).
The list is followed by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen with 90% of its MLAs having criminal cases against them.
The Indian Union Muslim League has 86% of its MLAs with criminal cases, followed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (85%), Rashtriya Lok Dal and Pattali Makkal Katchi (80%).
In terms of the larger regional parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has 76% of its MLAs with criminal cases, follwoed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (74%), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (70%), Samajwadi Party (64%), Aam Aadmi Party (58%), YSR Congress Party (57%), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now known as Bharat Rashtra Samithi ) (54%), Nationalist Congress Party 52%, Janata Dal (United) 43%, and Trinamool Congress (42%).
The number of crorepati MLAs
The report also analyses the financial background of all 4,001 MLAs across state assemblies and Union territories.
As many as 88 MLAs, or 2%, of the 4,001 politicians are billionaires, according to the report.
The average worth of assets per MLA from state assemblies stands at Rs 13.63 crore.
The report also found that MLAs with criminal cases have higher assets than those without criminal antecedents.
While the average assets of MLAs with declared criminal cases is Rs 16.36 crore, the average assets of those without criminal cases is Rs 11.45 crore.
Karnataka leads the states with the highest average assets per MLA, with average assets of Rs 64.39 crore, followed by Andhra Pradesh with average assets of Rs 28.24 crore and Maharashtra with average assets of Rs 23.51 crore.
Karnataka also leads the states with the highest percentage of billionaire MLAs at 14%.
This is followed by Arunachal Pradesh (7%), Andhra Pradesh (6%), Maharashtra (4%), and Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (3%).
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