New Delhi: A third of the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha has a criminal background, an analysis of the disclosures they have made in their affidavits has shown.
An analysis of 541 of the 543 winning candidates by the National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows that 186 or 34 per cent of the newly elected MPs have in their election affidavits disclosed the criminal cases that have been filed against them.
In 2009, 30 per cent of the Lok Sabha members had criminal cases.
According to the analysis, a candidate with criminal cases had a 13 per cent chance of winning in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, whereas it was just five per cent for an aspirant with a clean record.
Of the 186 new members, 112 (21 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases, including those related to murder, attempt to murder, causing communal disharmony, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.
Party wise, 98 or 35 per cent of the 281 winners from the BJP have declared criminal cases against them.
Eight (18 per cent) of the 44 winners from the Congress, six (16 per cent) of the 37 winners from the AIADMK, 15 (83 per cent) of the 18 winners from the Shiv Sena, and seven (21 per cent) of the 34 winners fielded by Trinamool Congress also have disclosed criminal cases against themselves.
