In Goa, victorious MLAs fielded by every major party are facing criminal cases, whereas 37 (93 per cent) of the 40 newly elected members of the Assembly are ‘crorepatis,' compared to 55 per cent in the 2007 elections.
Goa once again has only one (3 per cent) woman MLA.
The analysis released on Saturday by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch is based on the information supplied by candidates while filing nomination.
According to the study of criminal, financial, educational and gender and other details of the newly elected MLAs, criminal cases are pending against 7 out of 21 (33 per cent) MLAs from the ruling BJP. While the Opposition Congress has 3 out of 9 MLAs (33 per cent) and Goa Vikas Party 1 out of 2 MLAs (50 per cent) who have criminal cases against them. One Independent out of 5 (20 per cent) also has a criminal record.
Out of these 12 elected candidates, 3 have declared serious criminal charges like extortion, abetment of suicide, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, etc. The Congress has 2 and GVP has 1 such MLA.
The highest number of criminal cases has been registered against Fransico Xavier Pacheco of GVP, an MLA from Nuvem and former Tourism Minister. He declared 10 cases against himself, including charges related to extortion and abetment of suicide. Atanasio Monserrate (of Congress from St. Cruz) has declared 2 cases against himself, including 3 charges related to voluntarily causing hurt. His wife Jennifer Monserrate (of Congress from Taleigao) has declared 1 case, including 3 charges related to voluntarily causing hurt.
The former Speaker, Pratapsingh Rane of the Congress, has declared maximum assets worth Rs. 25.87 crore, followed by Vijai Sardesai (an Independent from Fatorda constituency) with Rs. 25.21 crore, and Ms. Monserrate, Rs. 23.07crore.
Only 3 MLAs have declared assets worth less than Rs. 1 crore. Twelve (30 per cent) of the 40 MLAs analysed declared liabilities of Rs. 1 crore and above. Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for Congress is Rs. 13.41 crore, for Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (the BJP's alliance partners) it is Rs 6.78 crores, for the BJP it is Rs. 4.96 crore, and GVP Rs 4.43 crore.
A total of 20 (50 per cent) Goa MLAs are graduates or with higher educational qualifications.
Only 2 (5 per cent) MLAs are 8th pass or below.
The average assets of 27 MLAs who re-contested was Rs. 2.68 crore in 2007, against Rs. 7.27 crore this year.
Lavoo Mamledar of the MGP, elected from Ponda, is the only MLA who has shown a decrease in his assets. His assets decreased by 25 per cent (from 1.81 crore in 2007 to Rs.1.35 crore in 2012), said Bhaskar Assoldekar, Goa Coordinator.
