The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Uttar Pradesh Election Watch, which analysed the criminal, financial and other background details of 81 out of 100 sitting MLCs in the Upper House, found that 26 (32%) MLCs have serious criminal cases.

In the current Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, two seats are vacant and seven MLCs were not analysed as their affidavits were unavailable. The 10 nominated MLCs are not required to submit their affidavits, hence their information on criminal, financial and other details is not available in the public domain.

According to the ADR release, three MLCs have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section 302) while four have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307). The BJP has 22 (out of 66 MLCs) with criminal cases while the SP has three (out of seven) MLCs with criminal cases. One of the six independent MLCs has declared criminal cases.

Out of the 81 sitting MLCs analysed, 66 are crorepatis with the maximum belonging to the BJP. Nearly, 54 out of 66 MLCs from BJP, six out of seven MLCs from SP, one MLC from Apna Dal (Sonelal) and five out of the six independent MLCs have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Thirteen MLCs have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass while 66 MLCs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above and one MLC has stated that he is just literate.