30 pc ministers in Modi govt have criminal cases: Azad

The Congress today claimed that 30 per cent of ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had criminal cases pending against them as per information furnished by the ministers themselves.
"Modi had promised to provide a clean and transparent government on numerous occasions before and after the general elections, but he has failed to provide a clean government as 30 per cent of his ministers have criminal cases against them," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.
The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said this was not an allegation levelled by him, but the concerned ministers had themselves declared the number of criminal cases filed against them in affidavits submitted to Election Commission and furnished as much in declaration made to Parliament.

"Of this 30 per cent, 17 per cent have murder charges, while a minister of state for HRD has 23 cases against him, including murder charge," Azad said.
Azad, however, did not name any of the ministers slapped with criminal cases.
Further rubbishing the Prime Minister's transparency plank, Azad claimed that a BJP Minister hailing from Rajasthan had been declared as an absconder by a court in connection with a rape case.

The state police, he claimed, washed its hands off the matter by informing the court that the accused was untraceable.
"It's shocking that the PM is not able to trace the accused minister or ask him to submit himself before the law," Azad rued.

Another MoS in the Modi government hailing from Andhra Pradesh was a bank defaulter who swindled Rs 317 crore, he claimed while another MOS, his wife and brother were facing charges of illegal iron ore mining in another state.
Azad claimed that the Prime Minister had roped in an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots in his Council of Ministers last year and additionally given such minister a Z+ security.