After the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh concluded and its results announced, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released its report in which it was revealed that 90 newly elected MLAs out of 230 in the State, which is nearly 39%, have criminal cases against them.
ADR is a non-profit organisation which discloses criminal, financial, and educational background of the candidates contesting elections.
"90 winning candidates out of the 230 analysed in 2023 have declared criminal cases against themselves. Similarly, 34 winning candidates out of 230 which is nearly 15%, in the state have declared serious criminal cases against themselves," says ADR report.
Of these 90 MLAs having criminal cases, 51 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 38 belong to the Congress Party and one from the Bharatiya Adivasi Party.
There is a slight downfall in the numbers this time in comparison to that of the previous 2018 assembly polls. During the 2018 MP assembly polls, 94 MLAs out of 230 had declared criminal cases against themselves while 47 MLAs out of 230 had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Another interesting data in the report is that 205 newly elected MLAs in the State which is nearly 89% are 'crorepati'. Of these crorepati MLAs, 144 belong to the BJP and 61 belong to the Congress party.
The number of crorepati MLAs in the state has increased in comparison to that of last assembly polls as during the 2018 assembly polls, 187 MLAs were crorepatis.
BJP MLA from Ratlam city constituency in Ratlam district, Chetanya Kasyap is the richest MLA in the state whose total wealth is over ₹296 crores. Similarly, a BJP MLA from Vijayraghavgarh assembly seat in Katni district, Sanjay Satyendra Pathak is the second richest MLA having wealth of over ₹242 crores followed by Congress MLA Kamal Nath who has a total wealth of over ₹134 crores, the report said.
Besides, 161 winning candidates are graduates or above educational qualifications. Similarly, 64 candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between class 5th pass and class 12th pass, while three winning candidates are Diploma Holders and two are just literate, the report further read.
Out of 230 winning candidates, only 27 candidates around 12% are women. Though the number of women MLAs in the state is a bit higher than that of the last assembly polls. During the 2018 assembly polls, out of 230 MLAs, 21 MLAs, around 9%, were women, it added.
Madhya Pradesh went to polls for 230 assembly seats in a single phase on November 17 and the counting of votes was done on Sunday. The BJP registered a comprehensive victory in the State by winning 163 seats while the Congress party stood at second place after winning 66 seats and Bharat Adivasi Party won one seat in the state.
