40% of newly elected Rajya Sabha MPs have criminal cases: Report

PTI, Jun 17, 2022, 10:52 AM IST

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New Delhi: Of 57 newly-elected Rajya Sabha members, 23 (almost 40 percent) have declared criminal cases against them in their poll affidavits with nine of these MPs coming from the BJP and four Congress, according to a report released by ADR-National Election Watch on Thursday.

Six of these Rajya Sabha MPs have been elected from Uttar Pradesh, four each from Maharashtra and Bihar, three from Tamil Nadu, two from Telangana, and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Haryana, the report said.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch said the report was based on the analysis of self-sworn affidavits of all 57 MPs who were elected to Rajya Sabha this month.

“Out of the 57 MPs analyzed, 23 MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves,” the report said.

According to a party-wise break-up given by the report, nine out of 22 newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs of the BJP have criminal cases against them. Out of nine newly elected MPs of Congress, four have declared criminal cases against them in their poll affidavits.

The report said both of the newly elected TRS MPs as well as two members elected to Rajya Sabha from RJD have declared criminal cases against them “One MP each from YSRCP, DMK, AIADMK, SP, SHS (Shiv Sena) and an Independent have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits,” the report said.

A total of 12 MPs have declared “serious criminal cases”.

Analyzing the movable and immovable assets of the 57 newly elected MPs, the report said 53 of them are ‘crorepati’ (millionaire) and placed TRS MP Bandi Partha Saradhi on the top of the list with his total assets being worth over Rs 1,500 crore.

On the second spot, the report placed former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who was elected to Rajya Sabha as an Independent candidate with the support of the Samajwadi Party from Uttar Pradesh, with his total assets being worth over Rs 608 crore.

The report placed the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Vikramjit Singh Sahney in the third position with the total assets of the newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab being worth over Rs 498 crore.

“The average assets value of the newly elected MPs to the Rajya Sabha, 2022 is Rs 154.27 crore,” the report said.