Madhya Pradesh election results: 90 newly elected MLAs have criminal cases, reveals ADR report

90 new MLAs in the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly have serious criminal cases against watchdog ADR, pollster ADR said in its latest report.

Supporters of the BJP celebrate the party’s victory in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in Bhopal on Monday. (ANI photo)

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election Results: As many as 90 newly elected members of the 230-member Legislative Assembly have criminal cases pending against them, according to a report by the watchdog. According to a report published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), about 39 percent of new state lawmakers face serious criminal cases.

“90 winning candidates out of 230 analyzed in 2023 have filed criminal cases against themselves. “Similarly, 34 of the 230 winning candidates, which is almost 15 percent, have filed serious criminal cases against themselves in the state,” the ADR report revealed.

Of these 90 MLAs with criminal cases, 51 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 38 to the Congress and one to the Bharatiya Adivasi Party, the report said.

The figures are slightly better compared to the 2018 polls, when 94 new MLAs from the 230-seat Assembly had filed criminal cases against themselves – 47 of the 94 MLAs had serious criminal cases, including rape and murder.

89 percent ‘Crorepatis’ in the 230-seat Assembly

The ADR report further revealed that 205 newly elected lawmakers in the state — nearly 89 percent — are crorepatis or billionaires. Of these crorepati MLAs, 144 are from the BJP, while 61 belong to the Congress.

The number of crorepati MLAs in the state has increased compared to that of the last Assembly elections as during the 2018 Assembly elections, 187 MLAs were crorepatis.

BJP MLA from Ratlam constituency in Ratlam district, Chetanya Kasyap, is the richest elected legislator in the state with total declared assets worth over Rs 296 crores. Similarly, another BJP MLA from Vijayraghavgarh assembly seat in Katni district, Sanjay Satyendra Pathak, is the second richest MLA with a net worth of over Rs 242 crores, followed by Congress MLA Kamal Nath who has a total net worth has of over Rs 134 crores, the report said.

161 winning MLA graduates or higher

According to the report, 161 winning candidates are graduates or above an educational qualification. Similarly, 64 candidates have indicated that their educational qualification is between Class 5 and Class 12, while three winning candidates are diploma holders and two are just literate.

Of the 230 winning candidates, only 27 candidates, about 12 percent, are women. Though the number of women MLAs in the state is slightly higher than that of the last Assembly elections. During the 2018 Assembly elections, 21 of the 230 MLAs, about nine percent, were women, the ADR report said.

ADR is a non-profit organization that discloses the criminal, financial and educational background of candidates participating in elections.

Madhya Pradesh went to the polls for 230 parliamentary seats in a single phase on November 17 and counting of votes was done on Sunday. The BJP registered a comprehensive victory in the state by winning 163 seats, while the Congress stood second, winning 66 seats, while the Bharat Adivasi Party won one seat.

(With ANI inputs)