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Of the five States going to polls in November-December, Delhi has the highest percentage (43 per cent) of MLAs with declared criminal cases, followed by 25 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.
In fact, Madhya Pradesh has the highest —11 per cent — of MLAs with serious criminal cases, followed by Delhi and Chhattisgarh with 9 per cent. Mizoram, with 7 per cent, has the lowest percentage of MLAs with criminal cases among the five States.
Among the five States, Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram are ruled by the Congress, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have a BJP Government.
Overall, 13 per cent of the contesting candidates (879 out of 6,870 candidates) from five States had self-declared pending criminal cases as per their affidavits during the 2008 Assembly elections, says an analysis by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Millionaires galore
The findings are significant in the light of the recent Supreme Court order restricting convicted candidates from contesting polls. However, since conviction is a long-drawn process, many candidates with criminal cases may not be affected.
The ADR and National Election Watch are demanding that all political parties should give tickets to taint-free candidates during the upcoming elections.
An analysis of the assets declared by MLAs in the affidavits to the Election Commission shows that 43 per cent out of the 607 in the five States were crorepatis. Once again, Delhi topped with 69 per cent crorepati MLAs, followed by Rajasthan with 46 per cent and Madhya Pradesh with 38 per cent.
Out of the 7,520 candidates who contested the 2008 Assembly elections, the lowest percentage of women candidates was in Mizoram (4 per cent), while Delhi and Chhattisgarh recorded 9 per cent women candidates, which, ironically, was the highest among the five States.
Out of 630 MLAs from these five States, only 67 (11 per cent) are women. Rajasthan has the highest women MLAs at 14 per cent, while Mizoram has no women representation. Delhi, which has a woman Chief Minister, has only 4 per cent women MLAs.
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