Uttar Pradesh has most tainted MPs

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has once again set a record for the most number of tainted lawmakers any state has sent to the parliament - 31 of the state's 80 MPs have criminal cases pending against them.

Out of the 31 MPs under the scanner, as many as 22 have serious criminal charges against them, according to figures released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an umbrella organisation of non-governmental groups that monitors elections.

After the previous elections in 2004, Uttar Pradesh had elected 28 MPs with criminal records.

"After scanning the affidavits submitted by the winning candidates, it has also been revealed that the number of MPs with criminal charges in the country has increased to 150 as compared to the 14th Lok Sabha figure of 128," Trilochan Shastri of ADR said.

The new figures mark an increase of about 17.2 per cent in the number of MPs with criminal records and a 30.9 per cent increase in the number of MPs with serious criminal records, he added.

"Maharashtra is second with 23 MPs having criminal cases, out of which nine have serious cases against them," Shastri said.

To add to Uttar Pradesh's statistics, three MPs of the state have made it to a list of 10 MPs with heinous criminal charges against them.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Varun Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad find a place on this list. The BJP leads the party-wise figures with 42 MPs who have criminal cases against them, followed closely by the Congress with 41. Samajwadi Party is third with eight.