There are 55 newly elected crorepati members of Parliament (MPs) in the Rajya Sabha, while 13 have declared criminal cases against themselves, says a new study by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
“Out of the 57 newly elected MPs, 55 are crorepatis,” a study by the Delhi-based think tank said.
“The MPs with highest assets include Praful Patel of NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) with total assets worth Rs 252 crore, followed by Kapil Sibal of the Congress Party (Rs 212 crore) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party)’s Satish Chandra Misra (Rs 193 crore),” said ADR, which has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 57 newly elected MPs of Rajya Sabha 2016.
MPs with lowest assets include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Anil Madhav Dave (Rs 60 lakh) and Ram Kumar (Rs 86 lakh). Dave saw the highest percentage growth in assets as his assets increased about Rs 58.2 lakh to nearly Rs 61 lakh.
Besides, 19 MPs have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above. Total assets of BSP’s Satish Chandra Misra stood at Rs 1,93 crore, while his liabilities were at Rs 38 crore. About 57 members were elected fresh to Rajya Sabha in the recently concluded elections. Among them, 17 represent the BJP, nine are from Congress, seven (Samajwadi Party), four (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Three (Biju Janata Dal).
There are two each from the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the BSP and the Telugu Desam Party, while the Shiromani Akali Dal, NCP, the Shiv Sena and the YSR Congress Party have one representative each. There is also an independent MP. Overall, 55 are crorepatis with the ruling BJP accounting for 15 such members. Except for two people from the BJP, all the other members — new and re-elected ones — who have come to the Upper House are crorepatis.
The average assets value of the newly elected MPs to the Rajya Sabha, 2016, is Rs 35.8 crore, it said.
Among major parties, the average assets for 17 BJP MPs is Rs 17.9 crore, nine INC MPs is Rs 65.5 crore, seven SP MPs (Rs 38 crore), four AIADMK MPs (Rs 6.8 crore) and three BJD MPs (Rs 15 crore).
“Out of the 57 MPs analysed, 13 have declared criminal cases against themselves and seven have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related to attempt to murder, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, theft," the study noted.
Three from BJP, two from SP and one MP each from INC, BJD, BSP, RJD, DMK, SHS, YSRCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, it said.
Among state-wise MPs with criminal cases, four out of 11 MPs are from Uttar Pradesh, two of 5 MPs from Bihar, one of 6 from Maharashtra, one of 6 from Tamil Nadu, one of 4 Karnataka MPs, one of 4 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, one of 3 MPs from Madhya Pradesh, one of 3 MPs from Odisha and one of 2 MPs from Haryana have declared criminal cases against themselves, the study which was released on Wednesday said.
On the education details of MPs, the study said three MPs have declared their education qualification to be between 10th pass and 12th pass, while 33 have declared having a qualification of graduate or graduate professional.
Moreover, 18 MPs have declared themselves to be postgraduates while two have declared they are doctorates.
With regard to the age details of MPs, 25 MPs have declared their age to be between 41 and 60 years, while 31 have declared their age to be between 61 and 80 years.
Out of 57 MPs, only four newly elected MPs are women.
