33% Of Rajya Sabha MPs Have Declared Criminal Cases: Report

NEW DELHI: Of 225 Rajya Sabha sitting members analysed, 33 per cent have declared criminal cases against themselves while the total assets of these sitting MPs stood at ₹19,602 crore, according to poll rights body ADR.

Also, 31 of them, or 14 per cent, are billionaires.

In an analysis conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch (NEW), two Rajya Sabha sitting members have declared cases related to murder under 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 per cent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves and 40 (18 per cent) 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. The BJP leads with 23 per cent of its 90 Rajya Sabha members having declared criminal cases against themselves.

The Congress follows closely behind with 50 per cent of its 28 MPs facing similar charges.

The ADR analysis said five (38 per cent) out of 13 Rajya Sabha members from TMC, four (67 per cent) out of six members from RJD, four (80 per cent) out of five MPs from CPI(M), three (30 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, four (36 per cent) out of 11 Rajya Sabha members from YSRCP and two (20 per cent) out of 10 MPs from DMK have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Moreover, when considering serious criminal cases, the trend persists, with significant percentages of MPs from various parties facing such charges.

"Ten (11 per cent) out of 90 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 9 (32 per cent) out of 28 Rajya Sabha MPs from Congress, 3 (23 per cent) out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from TMC, 2 (33 per cent) out of 6 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD, 2 (40 per cent) out of 5 Rajya Sabha MPs from CPI(M), 1 (10 per cent) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP, 3 (27 per cent) out of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs from YSRCP and 1 (10 per cent) 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 per cent) out of 18 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra, 8 (50 per cent) out of 16 MPs from Bihar, 9 (29 per cent) out of 31 MPs from Uttar Pradesh, 6 (33 per cent) out of 18 Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu, 6 (67 per cent) out of 9 MPs from Kerala and 7 (44 per cent) 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 analysed 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 ₹87.12 crore.

Further dissecting the data, the report revealed significant disparities in asset holdings across different political parties.

Among major parties, 9 (10 per cent) out of 90 Rajya Sabha members from BJP, 4 (14 per cent) out of 28 Rajya Sabha members from Congress, 5 (45 per cent) out of 11 MPs from YSRCP, 2 (20 per cent) out of 10 Rajya Sabha members from AAP, 3 (75 per cent) out of 4 Rajya Sabha members from TRS and 2 (33 per cent) out of 6 MPs from RJD have declared assets valued more than ₹100 crore.