The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a poll rights body recently released an analysis stating that 33 percent Rajya Sabha members have declared criminal cases registered against them. The report stated that the total assets of these sitting MPs stood at Rs 19,602 crore, adding that 31 of them, or 14 percent of the members are billionaires.
The report also revealed that 18 percent of these parliamentarians have declared serious criminal cases which include instances of murder and attempted murder.
The analysis also asserted that two Rajya Sabha sitting members have declared cases related to murder under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302, while four MPs have declared cases related to attempt to murder under IPC Section 307.
“Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33 percent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves and 40 (18 percent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases,” the report said.
The analysis also delved into the distribution of these criminal cases across different political parties.
BJP- HIGHEST NUMBER OF RS MEMBERS WITH CRIMINAL RECORD
The Bhartiya Janta Party leads with 23 percent of its 90 Rajya Sabha members having declared criminal cases against themselves. The Congress follows closely behind with 50 percent of its 28 MPs facing similar charges.
The ADR analysis said five (38 percent) out of 13 Rajya Sabha members from TMC, four (67 percent out of six members from RJD, four (80 percent) out of five MPs from CPI(M), three (30 percent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, four (36 percent) out of 11 Rajya Sabha members from YSRCP and two (20 percent) out of 10 MPs from DMK have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
SERIOUS CRIMINAL CASES
Moreover, when considering serious criminal cases, the trend persists, with significant percentages of MPs from various parties facing such charges.
“Ten (11 percent) out of 90 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 9 (32 percent) out of 28 Rajya Sabha MPs from Congress, 3 (23 percent) out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from TMC, 2(33 percent) out of 6 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD, 2(40 percent) out of 5 Rajya Sabha MPs from CPI(M), 1(10 percent) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP, 3(27 percent) out of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs from YSRCP and 1(10 percent) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from DMK have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits,” the report said.
The report said 11 (61 percent) out of 18 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra, 8 (50 percent) out of 16 MPs from Bihar, 9 (29 percent) out of 31 MPs from Uttar Pradesh, 6(33 percent) from Tamil Nadu, 6(67 percent) out of 9 MPs from Kerala and 7(44 percent) out of 16 MPs from West Bengal have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
The analysis covers 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha members, with one seat from Maharashtra vacant and four seats from Jammu and Kashmir undefined.
Three MPs were not analyzed due to the unavailability of their affidavits.
In addition to the criminal background, the analysis also delved into the asset holdings of Rajya Sabha members.
It was found that the average assets per MP stand at a staggering Rs 87.12 crore.
Further dissecting the data, the report revealed significant disparities in asset holdings across different political parties.
Among major parties, 9 (10 percent) out of 90 Rajya Sabha members from BJP, 4 (14 percent) out of 28 Rajya Sabha members from Congress, 5 (45 percent) out of 11 MPs from YSRCP, 2 (20 percent) out of 10 Rajya Sabha members from AAP, 3 (75 percent) out of 4 Rajya Sabha members from TRS and 2 (33 percent) out of 6 MPs from RJD have declared assets valued more than Rs 100 crore.
AVERAGE ASSETS PER MP
Among the major parties, the average assets per MP for analyzed MPs are as follows: BJP Rajya Sabha members have average assets of Rs 37.34 crore, Congress MPs have average assets of Rs 40.70 crore, TMC MPs have average assets worth Rs 10.25 crore, YSRCP MPs have average assets worth Rs 357.68 crore, TRS Rajya Sabha members have average assets worth a whopping Rs 1,383.74 crore, DMK Rajya Sabha members have average assets worth Rs 6.37 crore, and AAP Rajya Sabha members have average assets of Rs 114.81 crore.
When broken down by party, the total assets for analyzed MPs are as follows: BJP MPs have total assets of Rs 3,360 crore, Congress MPs have total assets of Rs 1,139 crore, YSRCP MPs have total assets of Rs 3,934 crore, TRS MPs have total assets of Rs 5,534 crore, and AAP MPs have total assets of Rs 1,148 crore.
(with inputs from PTI)
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