Press Release: Analysis of newly elected MLAs in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry. 36% MLAs with Criminal Cases and 53% Crorepatis in the 5 states combined.
ADR India
Delhi, May 20th, 2016: Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), a nationwide campaign comprising of more than 1200 NGOs and other citizen led organizations, has been working on electoral reforms, improving democracy and governance in India. National Election Watch (NEW) groups in the five states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry have analyzed the affidavits of 812 MLAs elected in 2016 elections. This report is based on the analysis of their affidavits.
· National Election Watch (NEW) groups in the five states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry have analyzed the affidavits of 812 MLAs elected in the 2016 Assembly elections. Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed elections in 2 constituencies in Tamil Nadu (174- Thanjavur and 134-Aravakurichi Assembly Constituencies). Affidavits for 9 MLAs in Tamil Nadu were badly scanned and hence not analyzed at this time.
1 MLA in West Bengal was not analyzed due to illegible affidavit
- 36% MLAs (294 out of 812 analyzed) have self-declared pending criminal cases as per their affidavits in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry 2016 Assembly Elections.
- 176 MLAs out of these 812 analyzed have declared serious IPC charges like murder and attempt to murder charges against them.
- Kerala has the maximum percentage (62%) of MLAs with declared criminal cases against them.
- West Bengal has the maximum percentage (32%) of MLAs with declared serious criminal cases against them.
· A total of 428 MLAs (i.e. 53% of the total analyzed) are crorepatis.
· Puducherry has the maximum percentage (83%) of MLAs who are crorepatis, followed by Tamil Nadu with 76% of MLAs who are crorepatis.
· A total of 186 MLAs (23%) have declared that they have never filed Income Tax Returns (ITR).
· Kerala has the maximum percentage (60%) of MLAs who have not filed income tax, followed by West Bengal with 20% of MLAs who not filed income tax.
· 49 MLAs have not even given their PAN details.
· Puducherry has the highest average assets (Rs 13.45 crores) of MLAs followed by Tamil Nadu with average assets of Rs 8.21 crores and Kerala with average assets of Rs 2.82 crores.
· Out of 812 newly elected MLAs, there only 9% women MLAs. Among the five states, West Bengal has 40 out of 293 (14%) women MLAs, followed by Puducherry with 4 of 30 (13%).
· There are 19 MLAs with PhD. The maximum number of MLAs (10) with PhD are from West Bengal followed by Tamil Nadu with 5 MLAs who have a PhD.
· Apart from PhD, there are 480 or 59% MLAs with Graduate or above Degrees.
· 11% of the elected MLAs are 40 and below years of age
· 5 MLAs are above 80 years of age
· For Full Reports on each state, please visit our website www.adrindia.org
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Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms
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Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms
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