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35pc Of New Lawmakers Have Criminal Records (What's Your Hit Ratio?)

April 01, 2012 posted by Steve Brownstein

NEW DELHI More than one-third of candidates elected in the just concluded state Assembly elections have criminal cases against them, with Uttar Pradesh topping the list. Thirty-five per cent or 252 of the 690 MLAs elected to the five assemblies - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa - have criminal background, a rise of eight per cent since 2007.

Also, 66 per cent or 457 of the newly elected MLAs were multi-millioners, according to an analysis of affidavits the candidates had submitted to the Election Commission.

The analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch also shows that compared to assembly elections in 2007, there is over 32 per cent increase in the number of multi-millionaire MLAs and about eight per cent rise in the winning candidates with a criminal past this time.

According to the analysis, a total of 189 (47 per cent) of new MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly have declared criminal cases against them, compared to 140 (34 per ent) in the 2007 Assembly. Similarly, 271 or 67 per cent new MLAs in the state are multi-millionaires, compared to 124 multi-millionaire MLAs elected in 2007.

While Samajwadi Party’s Mitra Sen who won from Bikapur seat topped the list of tainted MLAs with 36 criminal cases, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Congress from Suar constituency topped the rich list with a declared total asset worth Rs560.89 million followed by Shah Alam of BSP from Mubarakpur with assets worth Rs540.44 million.

North eastern state Manipur is the only state, where not a single elected candidate who has declared any pending criminal cases against him or her. However, the new Assembly witnessed a sharp rise among wealthy MLAs with 16 have declared assets worth more than Rs1 million. In 2007 Assembly there was only one MLA who was a millionaire.

In Punjab, the recent polls witnessed 22 candidates with a criminal past winning the elections, compared to 21 such tainted MLAs in the 2007 Assembly. So far as the money power is concerned, more than 86 per cent of the candidates fared well in the state, as voters sent about 86 per cent or 101 millionaires to the 117-member Assembly this time. There were 77 (66 per cent) millionaires in the 2007 Assembly.

In Goa, voters have chosen 37 (93 per cent) millionaires and 12 (30 per cent) candidates with tainted past to the 40-member Assembly this year. In 2007, their number was 22 and nine respectively.

Similarly in Uttarakhand, 19 (22 per cent) new MLAs have criminal cases against them, while 32 (46 per cent) millionaires managed to enter the new Assembly. Their  figures in 2007 were 17 and 12 respectively.