Yet another election has gone up and Uttar Pradesh [ Images ] continues to elect candidates with criminal records. With 189 tainted MLAs, almost 50 per cent of the state assembly comprises criminals, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
In Uttar Pradesh, the frustration against criminal elements in politics has been growing and using their power the voters have ousted several such candidates.
Prominent among those with criminal records who were vanquished in the polls are D P Yadav, Atiq Ahmad, Brajesh Singh, Abhay Singh, Madan Bhaiyya and Munna Bajrangi.
But, Uttar Pradesh is far from getting rid of its criminal politicians. The new Uttar Pradesh assembly will function with a staggering 189 tainted MLAs. Forty seven per cent of those elected -- nearly half of the assembly -- have criminal cases pending against them. In 2007, 140 such candidates were elected.
The Association for Democratic Reforms provides a detailed analysis for the Uttar Pradesh assembly of which 403 MLAs were analysed. Of these legislators, 189 i.e. 47 per cent have criminal cases against them, as compared to the 35 per cent in 2007.
Out of these 189 MLAs, 98 (24 per cent) have serious criminal cases against them. In 2007, out of the 140 such MLAs 78 faced serious charges.
The most criminal cases (36) are against Samajwadi Party's Mitra Sen from the Bikapur constituency. Among these cases, 14 are related to murder. Sushil Singh, an Independent who was elected from Sakaldiha, faces 20 criminal charges including 12 related to murder followed by SP's Ram Veer Singh, who has 18 criminal cases pending (eight related to murder.)
From the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, Mohd Aleem Khan of Bulandsahar has three criminal cases -- one related to murder and one related to rape. Congress MLA from the Pindra constituency Ajay has eight pending criminal cases (three charges related to murder), Bharatiya Janata Party's [ Images ] Upendra from Phephana has 11 such cases (five related to murder) and Qaumi Ekta Dal MLA from the Mau constituency has 15 cases (eight charges related to murder).
The crorepatis:
Out of all 403 MLAs analysed, 271 (67 per cent) are crorepatis. There is more than a 50 per cent rise in crorepati MLAs in Uttar Pradesh since 2007 when 124 i.e. 30.77 per cent MLAs fell in this category.
Congress's Nawab Kazim Ali from the Suar constituency is the richest MLA in the state with assets worth Rs. 56.89 crore, followed by Shah Alam of the BSP from Mubarakpur with assets worth Rs 54.44 crore and Mahesh Kumar Sharma of BJP from Noida constituency with assets of Rs 37.45 crore.
Six MLAs are said to have assets, which are valued at less than Rs 5 lakh.
A total of 22 (5.5 per cemt) MLAs out of the 403 declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above.
Among the big parties, the average value of assets of every MLA is Rs 2.52 crore of the SP, Rs 4.44 crore of the BSP, for the BJP it is Rs 4.01 crore and Rs 4.61 crore for the Congress.
The average asset of an UP MLA in 2007 was Rs 98.31 lakh, which has now increased to Rs 3.08 crore.
For those MLAs who have re-contested the elections, the value of assets on an average is Rs 2.09 crore, which is a whopping 213 per cent increase since 2007.
Kazim Ali Khan's assets have seen a growth of Rs 47.70 crore from Rs 9.18 crore in 2007 to Rs 56.89 crore in 2012, followed by Subhash whose asset value has increased by Rs 16.95 crore from 4.95 crore in 2007.
The value of assets of BSP's Wahab has gone up by 21,827 per cent. His assets rose from Rs 30,000 in 2007 to Rs 65.78 lakh in 2012. He is followed by Jai Prakash from the Chauri-chaura constituency, who assets today are worth Rs 3.39 crore as against Rs 6.26 lakh in 2007. SP's Sudhir Kumar from Safipur (SC) constituency has also seen a considerable growth in his assets -- from Rs 1.29 lakh in 2007 to 62.90 lakh in 2012.
A total of 239 (59 per cent) MLAs are graduates or have higher educational qualifications in the Uttar Pradesh. Only 40 (10 per cent) MLAs have passed Std VIII or have lesser qualifications.
Out of 403 MLAs of the Uttar Pradesh assembly, only 32 (eight per cent) are women.
