More than one-third of the candidates elected in the just concluded Assembly polls in five States have criminal cases registered 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 from 2007.
Also, 66 per cent or 457 of the newly elected MLAs are ‘crorepatis,' according to an analysis of affidavits the candidates had submitted to the Election Commission.
The analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch also shows that compared to 2007 Assembly elections, there is over 32 per cent increase in the number of crorepati MLAs winning.
In 2007, voters in these five States had chosen about 190 or 27 per cent MLAs with criminal past, while more than 235 or 34 per cent of candidates having assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore were elected to the Assemblies.
According to the analysis, a total of 189 (47 per cent) new MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly have declared criminal cases against them, compared to 140 (34 per cent) in the 2007 Assembly.
Similarly, 271 or 67 per cent new MLAs in the State are crorepatis, compared to 124 crorepati MLAs elected in 2007.
While Samajwadi Party's Mitra Sen, who won from Bikapur, 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 assets worth Rs. 56.89 crore, followed by Shah Alam of BSP from Mubarakpur with assets worth Rs. 54.44 crore.
Manipur is the only State where not a single elected candidate 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 Rs. 1 crore. In 2007 Assembly, there was only one MLA who was a crorepati.
In Punjab, 22 candidates with a criminal past won the elections. It was 21 in the 2007 Assembly.
As far as money power is concerned, more than 86 per cent of the candidates fared well in the State, with 101 corepatis getting elected to the 117-member Assembly this time. There were 77 (66 per cent) crorepatis in the 2007 Assembly.
In Uttarakhand, 19 (22 per cent) new MLAs have criminal cases against them, while 32 (46 per cent) crorepatis managed to enter the new Assembly. Their figures in 2007, were 17 and 12 respectively.
Keywords: Assembly polls, criminal MLAs, criminals in politics, ADR,
The EC has to be strict in taking the nominations of the corrupted
persons who like to contest in the elections ...The police department
through out India has to be given strong instructions in scrutinising
each and every candidates details irrespect of the party to which
he/she belongs to,failing which would risk their work and carrier
.....then only we can hope for a better India ...India has strong and
willfull citizens who has the caliber to move India to better heights
rather than going after politician families etc ..Ya sometimes we
indeed have great potential persons within but simply running after
big politician families as we do currently in some parties is a shear
waste ...This was proven to all of us in UP elections ....Our
outcoming leaders should be aware of the life of a common citizen
especially those living in BPL category ,only then a good
administration can be shown out ...currently all these facts are
shearly missing in atleast 80%of our elected candidates ....
in some years., the Political parties will put up a banner "wanted criminals., to contest in elections"
the persons with criminal cases/background should not be allowed to compete in the election.the EC should take strict action in this regard.our counntry lacking good leaders,its our fate,.....
So what's new? The only qualification required to be a peoples' representative in India today is to be thoroughly corrupt and have good criminal connections, ideally be a criminal yourself. You will be welcomed with open arms by our high and mighty. After all, corruption was legalised by our apex political authority when he cleared the Office of Profit Bill. How about having President's rule in our country for a few years under a strong President with an independent mind?
There is another way to look into it. Despite criminal record people elect them. It
tells a lot about the credibility of the police.
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