As many as 54 per cent of MLAs newly elected to the Jharkhand Assembly in recently concluded elections in December 2019 have criminal cases pending against them. The number of legislators against whom criminal cases pending is 44.
And mind it, this information comes from the affidavits filed by these 81 MLAs and information analysed during Jharkhand Assembly Elections. In comparison during 2014 elections to State Assembly, 68 per cent MLAs had criminal cases pending against them.
Sudhir Pal, State Coordinator, Jharkhand Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms told that out of 44 legislators against whom criminal cases were registered, atleast 34 or 42 per cent were those who have serious crminal cases pending against them. These cases relate to rape, muder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women.
Ironically, two MLAs had been declared convicted while two MLAs had declared cases related to murder against them under IPC 302 while two had declared cases of attempt to murder under Section 307 of IPC.
There are five MLAs against whom cases related to crimes against women and out of these five, two have declared cases related to rape under Section 376 of IPC.
Party wise 12 out of 25 MLAs are from BJP (48 per cent), three out of three from JVM (100 per cent), 17 out of 30 MLAs of JMM (57%), one out of two MLAs of AJSU (50 per cent), eight out of 16 MLAs of Indian National Congress (50 per cent) and one MLA each from NCP, CPI and RJD (100 per cent) have criminal cases against them as per the affidavits filed by them.
When we talk about serious criminal cases, 9 out of 25 MLAs or 36 per cent who have serious criminal cases against them are from BJP, three out of three or 100 per cent are from JVM, 12 out of 30 MLAs of JMM Party or 40 per cent, eight out of 16 MLAs of INC or 50 per cent and one each from CPI, RJD or 100 per cent.
Interestingly, 69 per cent of the elected MLAs analysed or 56 out of 81 are crorepatis. Out of 81 MLAs analysed during Jharkhand 2014 assembly elections, 41 (51%) MLAs were crorepatis. Party wise crorepati MLAs include 18 (72%) out of 25 from BJP, 2 (67%) out of 3 MLAs from JVM(P), 22 (73%) out of 30 MLAs from JMM, 2 (100%) MLAs from AJSU, 9 (56%) out of 16 MLAs INC, and 2 (100%) Independent MLAs have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.
The average of assets per MLA in the Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2019 is Rs 3.87 Crore. The average of assets per MLA in the Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2014 was Rs 1.84 crores. Among major parties, the average assets per MLAs for 30 JMM MLAs is Rs 3.05 crores, 25 BJP MLAs is Rs 4.79 crores, 16 INC MLAs is Rs 4.27 crores, 2 AJSU Party MLAs have average assets of Rs 10.26 crores and 3 JVM(P) MLAs have average assets worth Rs 88.84 lakhs.
About educational qualifiations, 30 (37%) MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass, while 49 (60%) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above. One MLA has declared himself to be just literate and one MLA is a Diploma Holder. As many as 46 (57%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 35 (43%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years.
Out of 81 MLAs, only 10 (12%) MLAs are women. In 2014, out of 81 MLAs, 8 (10%) MLAs were women. Other details of MLAs also make interesting reading. The Number of re-elected MLAs analysed in the Jharkhand assembly elections of 2019 is 36. The average assets of re-elected MLAs in 2014 were Rs 2.07 crores. The average assets of re-elected MLAs in 2019 are Rs 3.73 crores. The growth in average assets of re-elected MLAs is Rs 1.65 crore or by 80% from 2014 to 2019.
