The incoming Bihar Assembly will have more MLAs charged with criminal cases than its predecessor, will be substantially richer and will have fewer women, an analysis of election affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms shows.
In the 243-member House, 142 MLAs have been charged with criminal cases, 98 of them with serious cases including murder, rape and communal disharmony. There is little to choose between parties, with over half the MLAs of all leading parties charged with criminal cases and over a third charged with serious cases. JD(U) MLA Dadan Yadav leads the pack with 28 cases against him.
Among MLAs charged with crimes, 70 have already had charged framed by courts against them.
The share of MLAs with assets of over Rs 1 crore has more than tripled, with more than one out of every three incoming MLAs now a crorepati, while 14 new MLAs have assets of over Rs. 10 crore. The average wealth of an MLA in the new House is Rs. 3.2 crore, with the JD(U)’s Poonam Yadav its richest member with assets of over Rs. 39 crore. JD(U) MLAs are on average richer than those of other parties. The average assets of the 80 MLAs who got re-elected nearly tripled over the course of their five-year term, from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 3 crore.
The education profile of the Assembly has changed little between the two terms, with 57 per cent of MLAs in the new House graduates, and 15 doctorates among the new MLAs. Just nine MLAs report themselves to be just literate.
More than half the new House is under the age of 50, but just 10 per cent are women.
