India's newly elected MPs: Almost 90 per cent are millionaires and 43 per cent face criminal charges...The report said 116 of the 303 lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) face charges, including one for terrorism.

Mosiqi Acharya,sbs.com: Almost 90 per cent of lawmakers in the newly elected Indian Parliament are millionaires and more than 40 per cent of lawmakers face criminal charges – some for serious crimes like murder and rape – according to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

MPs with criminal background in Indian parliament:
Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha 2019, 233 (43%) winners have declared criminal cases against themselves.

159 (29%) winners in Lok Sabha 2019 Elections have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.

An INC winner, Dean Kuriakose from Idukki constituency has declared 204 criminal cases against himself, including cases related to committing culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery, criminal intimidation etc.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, a newly elected BJP MP, faces a terrorism charge over a 2008 attack near a mosque that killed six people. She denies the charges.

11 winners which include BJP’s Pragya Singh Thakur, BSP’s Atul Kumar Singh and INC Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have declared cases related to murder.

While 19 winners have declared cases related to crimes against women, three of them have declared cases related to rape.

criminal record of MPs
The report said 116 of the 303 lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) face charges, including one for terrorism.

Twenty-nine of the 52 Congress MPs face cases. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath is the richest MP in the new Lok Sabha, according to ADR.

Out of the 539 winners analysed, 475 (88%) are millionaires.

The number of millionaires in the Indian Parliament has gone up from 315 in 2009 to 475 in 2019.

Millionaire
The report said 265 of the 303 winners from the BJP were millionaires while 43 out of 51 winners from the INC, 22 out of 23 winners from DMK and 20 out of 22 winners of the AITC have declared assets more than ten million Indian rupees.

The 3 richest winners in the Lok Sabha 2019 Elections were Nakul Nath, Vasanthakumar H and DK Suresh, all from the Congress party.

Methodology:

ADR’s findings are based on the candidates' affidavits obtained from the Election Commission of India.

ADR along with National Election Watch analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 539 out of 542 winners in the 2019 Indian elections.

While Vellore constituency elections were cancelled, three winners were not analysed due to the unavailability of their clear and complete affidavits on the ECI website.

Business standard: Nearly half of the newly-elected Lok Sabha members have criminal charges against them, a 26 per cent increase as compared to 2014, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms.
Of the 539 winning candidates analysed by the ADR, as many as 233 MPs or 43 per cent have criminal charges.
The BJP has 116 MPs or 39 per cent of its winning candidates with criminal cases, followed by 29 MPs (57 per cent) from the Congress, 13 (81 per cent) from the JDU, 10 (43 per cent) from the DMK and nine (41 per cent) from the TMC, the ADR said.
In 2014, 185 Lok Sabha members (34 per cent) had criminal charges and 112 MPs had serious criminal cases against them. In 2009, 162 (nearly 30 per cent) out of the 543 Lok Sabha MPs had criminal charges and 14 per cent had serious criminal charges, it said.
In the new Lok Sabha, nearly 29 per cent of the cases are related to rape, murder, attempt to murder or crime against women, the non-governmental organisation said.
"There is an increase of 109 per cent (in 2019) in the number of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009," it said.
Eleven winners -- five from the BJP, two from the BSP, one each from the Congress, NCP and the YSR Congress Party, and an Independent -- have murder charges against them, the ADR said.
Pragya Singh Thakur, the newly-elected BJP MP from Bhopal, faces terror charges in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blasts. The Bharatiya Janata Party has faced a lot of criticism for fielding her.
Moreover, 29 winners have declared cases related to hate speech, it said.
Dean Kuriakose from the Congress, who won from the Idukki constituency in Kerala, has 204 criminal cases against him, including culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery, criminal intimidation, it added.


Anand Patel, India Today, New Delhi:  The 17th Lok Sabha will have close to half of its new MPs with declared criminal cases.
Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha election 2019, 233 MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves.
It is an increase of 44 per cent in the number of MPs with declared criminal cases since 2009
The chances of winning for a candidate with declared criminal cases in the Lok Sabha 2019 is 15.5 per cent whereas for a candidate with a clean background, it is 4.7 per cent.

This is due to the fact that the 17th Lok Sabha will have close to half of its new Members of Parliament (MPs) with declared criminal cases.

Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha 2019, 233 MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves. This is an increase of 44 per cent in the number of MPs with declared criminal cases since 2009.

Congress MP Dean Kuriakose from Idukki constituency in Kerala has declared 204 criminal cases against himself. These include cases related to committing culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery, criminal intimidation, etc.

As per the self-sworn affidavits submitted by the candidates at the time of filing nominations, the new Lok Sabha has surpassed the previous two in electing MPs with criminal records.

Out of the 542 MPs analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2014, 185 (34 per cent) winners had declared criminal cases against themselves while out of 543 winners analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 162 (30 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

This time its close to half. Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha elections 2019, 233 (43 per cent) MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The figure is far more alarming when it comes to serious criminal cases. Around 159 (29 per cent) winners this time have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc.

In 2014, out of 542 MPs analysed, 112 (21 per cent) had declared serious criminal cases against themselves. In 2009, out of 543 winners analysed, 76 (14 per cent) winners had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

There is an increase of 109 per cent in the number of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009.

Among the new Lok Sabha MPs, there are 10 who have declared convicted cases against themselves. There are 11 MPs with declared cases related to murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302) and 30 winners with declared cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section-307).

There are 19 MPs who have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of these, three have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376) and six have declared cases related to kidnappings.

Around 29 winners have declared cases related to hate speech.

Among the political parties, NDA ally Janta Dal United (JDU) has the highest percentage of MPs with criminal records.

In their affidavits, 13 (81 per cent) out of 16 winners from JD(U), 29 (57 per cent) out of 51 winners from INC, 10 (43 per cent) out of 23 winners from DMK, 9 (41 per cent) out of 22 winners fielded by AITC and 116 (39 per cent) out of 301 winners from the BJP have declared criminal cases against themselves.

While, 87 (29 per cent) out of 301 winners from the BJP, 19 (37 per cent) out of 51 winners from INC, 6 (26 per cent) out of 23 winners from DMK, 4(18 per cent) out of 22 winners fielded by AITC and 8 (50 per cent) out of 16 winners from JD(U) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

The above report has been released by National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after analysing the self-sworn affidavits of 539 out of 542 winners in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Elections in Vellore constituency was cancelled. Three winners were not analysed due to the unavailability of their clear and complete affidavits on the Election Commission of India website at the time of making this report.