33 percent sitting Rajya Sabha members have criminal cases against them: report

The report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) said that 41(18%) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases while two Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).

Hyderabad News Desk: Seventy-five sitting Rajya Sabha members accounting for 33 percent of the members have criminal cases against them with 18 percent involved in serious crimes, a recent report has revealed. According to the report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), out of the 225 Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs analysed, 75(33%) Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Rajya Sabha sitting MPs with serious criminal cases: As per the report, 41(18%) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases. Two Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302). Besides, four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307). Also, four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 4 MPs, One Rajya Sabha sitting MP namely K.C. Venugopal (INC) from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC Section-376) against himself.

Party wise Rajya Sabha sitting MPs with criminal cases: In terms of the party-wise RS members with criminal cases, 23(27%) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40%) out of 30 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 4 (31%) out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from AITC, 5(83%) out of 6 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD, 4(80%) out of 5 Rajya Sabha MPs from CPI(M), 3(30%) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP, 3(33%) out of 9 Rajya Sabha MPs from YSRCP and 2(67%) out of 3 Rajya Sabha MPs from NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, the ADR-NEW report said.

Party wise Rajya Sabha sitting MPs with serious criminal cases: Likewise, 12(14%) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 8 (27%) out of 30 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 2 (15%) out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from AITC, 3(50%) out of 6 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD, 2(40%) out of 5 Rajya Sabha MPs from CPI(M), 1(10%) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP, 3(33%) out of 9 Rajya Sabha MPs from YSRCP and 1(33%) out of 3 Rajya Sabha MPs from NCP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

State Wise Rajya Sabha sitting MPs with criminal cases: According to the report, 12(63%) out of 19 Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra, 10(63%) out of 16 Rajya Sabha MPs from Bihar, 7 (23%) out of 30 Rajya Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, 6(33%) out of 18 Rajya Sabha MPs from Tamil Nadu, 6(67%) out of 9 Rajya Sabha MPs from Kerala and 5(31%) out of 16 Rajya Sabha MPs from West Bengal have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Billionaire Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs: Out of the 225 sitting Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs analysed, 27 (12%) are Billionaires.

Party wise Billionaire Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs: Among major parties, 6 (7%)out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 4 (13%) out of 30 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 4(44%) out of 9 Rajya Sabha MPs from YSRCP, 3(30%) out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP, 3(43%) out of 7 Rajya Sabha MPs from TRS and 2(33%) out of 6 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD have declared assets valued more than Rs 100 crore.

State with Highest Percentage of Billionaire MPs: According to the report, 5(45%) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, 3 (43%) out of 7 MPs from Telangana, 3 (16%) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, 1(33%) out of 3 MPs from Delhi, 2(29%) out of 7 MPs from Punjab, 1(20%) out of 5 MPs from Haryana and 2(18%) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs. 100 crores.

The average assets of Rajya Sabha sitting MPs is Rs. 80.93 crores.

Party wise average assets: Among the major parties, the average assets per MP for 85 BJP Rajya Sabha MPs analysed is Rs 30.34 crores, 30 INC Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets of Rs 51.65 crores , 13 AITC Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets worth Rs. 3.55, 9 YSRCP Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets worth Rs. 395.68 crores, 7 TRS Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets worth Rs. 799.46 crores, 3 NCP Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets worth Rs. 19.57 crores and 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets of Rs. 131.66 crores.

Total assets of Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs: According to the ADR-NEW report, the total assets of 225 sitting MPs are Rs. 18,210 Crores.

Party wise total assets of Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs: The total assets for 85 BJP MPs analysed is Rs. 2,579 Crores, for 30 INC MPs analysed is Rs 1,549 Crores, for 9 YSRCP MPs analysed is Rs 3,561 Crores, for 7 TRS MPs analysed is Rs 5,596 Crores and 10 AAP MPs have total assets worth Rs.1,316 Crores.

State with Highest Total Assets of Rajya Sabha Sitting MPs: The total assets for 7 MPs analysed from Telangana is Rs 5,596 crores, followed by 11 MPs analysed from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 3,823 crores and 30 MPs analysed from Uttar Pradesh have total assets worth Rs.1,941 Crores. The ADR-NEW survey has analyzed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.

In the current Rajya Sabha one seat is vacant. Three MPs have not been analysed as their affidavits were unavailable and 4 seats of Jammu and Kashmir are undefined. This analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates prior to the Rajya Sabha elections and bye elections conducted thereafter.