New Delhi: A total of 151 sitting MPs and MLAs have declared cases of crimes against women, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having the highest number of such legislators among parties and West Bengal among states, according to a new report.
The report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and New Election Watch (NEW) released on Wednesday (August 21) analysed 4,693 out of 4809 election affidavits of sitting MPs and MLAs. This includes an analysis of 755 out of 776 affidavits of sitting MPs and 3938 of 4033 sitting MLAs from all 28 states and 8 union territories in the last five years.
The report states that of the 151 sitting MPs and MLAs with declared cases related to crimes against women, 16 are sitting MPs and 135 are sitting MLAs.
Among parties, BJP has the highest number of MPs and MLAs with declared cases of crimes against women at 54, followed by the Congress with 23, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 17.
Among states, West Bengal ranks the highest with 25 MPs and MLAs with declared cases of crimes against women, followed by Andhra Pradesh (21), Odisha (17).
Of the total 151 MPs and MLAs who have declared cases of crimes against women, 16 sitting lawmakers have declared cases related to rape. Of these 16, two are sitting MPs and the remaining 14 are MLAs.
Among parties, both the BJP and the Congress have the highest number of sitting MPs and MLAs with five each of declared cases of rape. While among states, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have the highest number of legislators with declared cases related to rape, with two each.
124% increase in MPs with declared criminal cases since 2009
A separate report, by ADR and NEW also released on Wednesday, that analyses the criminal background, financial, education, gender and other details of the winning candidates of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections found that, there has been an increase of 124% in the number of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009.
The report also states that 31% (170) of the winning candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have declared serious criminal cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc. In 2019, of the 539 winning candidates analysed, 29% (159) had declared serious criminal cases.
In 2014, of the 542 MPs analysed 112 or 21% MPs had serious criminal cases. In 2009 of the 543 MPs analysed, 76 i.e. 14% MPs had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
The report also notes that while the chances of winning for a candidate with declared criminal cases is 15.3%, while that of a candidate with a clean background is 4.4%.
In the 18th Lok Sabha, among parties, the BJP has the highest number of MPs with declared criminal cases with 94 of its 240 winning candidates. This is followed by the Congress (49), and Samajwadi Party (21).
This article was originally published on The Wire on August 22, 2024.
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