45% of 4,092 MLAs in 28 states, 3 UTs face criminal charges: ADR analysis

According to latest ADR report, 1,861 MLAs declared criminal cases against their names. Of these, 29 per cent or 1,205 MLAs face serious criminal charges, including cases related to murder, kidnapping

At least 45 per cent of 4,092 MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.

The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed the affidavits of 4,092 out of 4,123 MLAs in 28 state and three Union Territory assemblies. The affidavits of 24 MLAs could not be analysed as those were poorly scanned or not readable.

There are seven vacancies in the assemblies.

According to the latest ADR report, 1,861 MLAs declared criminal cases against their names. Of these, 29 per cent or 1,205 MLAs face serious criminal charges, including cases related to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women.

Andhra Pradesh leads the list with 138 MLAs (79 per cent) declaring criminal cases against their names, followed by Kerala and Telangana with 69 per cent each.

Other states with a high percentage of MLAs declaring criminal against their names are Bihar (66 per cent), Maharashtra (65 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (59 per cent).

With 98 (56 per cent), Andhra Pradesh also tops the list of legislators declaring serious criminal cases.

Other states with a significant proportion of legislators facing serious criminal cases are Telangana (50 per cent), Bihar (49 per cent), Odisha (45 per cent), Jharkhand (45 per cent) and Maharashtra (41 per cent).

The analysis also sheds light on the party-wise distribution of criminal cases among incumbent MLAs.

Of the BJP's 1,653 MLAs, 39 per cent or 638 declared criminal cases. Among them are 436 (26 per cent) facing serious charges.

Among the 646 MLAs of the Congress, 339 (52 per cent) declared criminal cases, including 194 (30 per cent) facing serious charges.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has the highest proportion of MLAs facing criminal cases. A whopping 115 of its 134 MLAs have declared criminal cases in their names. These include 82 MLAs facing serious allegations.

Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has 74 per cent (98 out of 132) MLAs with criminal cases, including 42 facing serious charges.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which governs West Bengal, has 95 MLAs (out of 230) facing criminal cases. Among them are 78 facing serious charges.

Of AAP's 123 MLAs, 69 (56 per cent) are facing criminal cases. These include 35 (28 per cent) with serious charges.

The Samajwadi Party has 110 MLAs and 68 (62 per cent) of them are facing criminal cases. Among them are 48 (44 per cent) booked for serious crimes.

According to the report, 54 MLAs are facing murder charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while 226 are accused of attempted murder under Section 307 of the IPC and Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Additionally, 127 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, including 13 charged with rape under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 376(2)(n), which deals with repeated sexual assault on the same victim.