51 MPs, MLAs have declared crime cases against women, reports ADR

Of the 51, 48 are Members of Legislative Assembly and three are Members of Parliament

As many as 51 MPs and MLAs have declared cases of crime against women, including of alleged rape and abduction, a study said on Wednesday.

Of the 51, 48 are Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and three are Members of Parliament (MPs), said a study by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-government organisation working for electoral reforms.

Giving party-wise details, the study stated that among various recognised parties, the BJP has the highest number of MPs and MLAs (14), followed by the Shiv Sena (7) and the All India Trinamool Congress (6) who have declared cases related to crime against women.

"There are 51 MPs and MLAs who have declared cases of crime against women such as charges related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, rape, husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty, buying minor for purposes of prostitution and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman," the ADR study said.

ADR and National Election Watch have analysed 4,852 out of 4,896 election affidavits of current MPs and MLAs. This includes 774 out of 776 affidavits of MPs and 4,078 out of 4,120 MLAs from all the states of India.

Out of the analysed 1,581 (33 per cent) MPs and MLAs with declared criminal cases, 51 have declared cases related to crimes against women, it said.

Besides, 334 candidates analysed who had declared cases related to crime against women were given tickets by recognised political parties, ADR said in the study.

Among these candidates, 40 were given tickets by parties for Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha elections. Various recognised parties have given tickets to 294 candidates with cases related to crime against women for state assembly elections.

It added that the analysed 122 independent candidates with declared cases related to crime against women had contested for the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha and state assembly elections in the last five years.

In the last five years, 19 independent candidates with declared cases related to crime against women contested in the LS and RS elections. Similarly, 103 independent candidates with declared cases related to crime against women contested in the state assembly polls.

The study further said that among major parties, over the last five years, 48 candidates with declared cases related to crime against women were given tickets by the BJP.

The second highest number of candidates (36) who had declared cases related to crime against women were given tickets by the BSP, followed by 27 candidates from the INC which had contested for LS/RS and state assemblies elections.

Among the states, Maharashtra has the highest number of MPs and MLAs (12) who have declared cases of crime against women, followed by West Bengal (11) and Odisha (6).

Also, among the states, Maharashtra has the highest number of candidates (65) in the last five years, followed by Bihar (62) and West Bengal (52) (including independents) who were given tickets by political parties even though they declared cases related to crime against women in their affidavits, the study added.