Out of 60 MLCs whose criminal, financial, educational details furnished in their election affidavits were analysed by the ADR, 38 (about 63 per cent) have criminal cases pending against them.
The 75-member Bihar Legislative Council, much like the state Assembly, has a fairly large share of members (MLCs) who are facing criminal cases, according to a report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Election Watch released on Tuesday.
Out of 60 MLCs whose criminal, financial, educational details furnished in their election affidavits were analysed by the ADR, 38 (about 63 per cent) have criminal cases pending against them.
Three MLCs were not analysed as their affidavits were unavailable while 12 nominated MLCs (from Governor quota) are not required to submit their affidavits.
As per the affidavits analysed, 33 per cent of them or 20 MLCs have serious criminal cases registered against them. Two face murder cases while nine others have cases of attempt to murder pending against them. Cases of atrocities related to women are pending against two members.
Party-wise, RJD’s 10 MLCs out of its total 14, i.e. 71 per cent, face criminal cases, closely followed by BJP, whose 11 out of 16 MLCs (69%) have criminal cases against them. BJP’s alliance partner, JD (U), has eight out of 17 MLCs facing criminal cases.
The average assets of MLCs in the current House is Rs. 33.87 crore.
Analysed party-wise, BJP tops the list with average assets of ₹25.10 crore, followed by RJD ( ₹15.64 crore), JD(U) with ₹11.40 crore, Congress (Rs. 7.79 crore).
The lone MLC from RLJP, the LJP faction led by union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, is worth Rs. 43.82 crore.
Independents are the richest
The richest lot are five Independent MLCs, whose average assets are in the vicinity of Rs. 227.05 crore, and the wealthiest among them is Sachchidanand Rai, who is worth a whopping ₹1,108 crore. Rai was formerly with BJP and has been an MLC in the past as well.
The poorest, so to speak, is newly elected RJD member Munni Devi, who is worth ₹29 lakh.
Talking of educational qualifications, 15 (25%) MLCs have studied till between class 5 and 12 while 43 (72%) have are graduated. One is diploma holder. The saffron party has maximum five doctorates, four post graduates while JD (U) has four doctorates and four post graduates.
