Fifty-two MLAs of the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly have criminal charges, of whom 41 legislators have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Keeping in view the recent Supreme Court judgement on criminalisation of politics, the ADR issued a release on the criminal background of the sitting MLAs and MPs.
“It is seen that out of 147 MLAs, whose affidavits were analysed by ADR, 52 MLAs or 35 per cent of the total MLAs in the state, had declared pending criminal cases against themselves at the time of contesting the elections held in 2014,” an official statement released by Odisha Election Watch, which is an affiliate of ADR, said. Among the political parties, the ruling BJD has the maximum number of MLAs with criminal cases (32) followed by Congress’ with 9 MLAs and BJP with 8 MLAs, it said.
The ADR noted that almost all the major political parties in Odisha have winners with criminal cases. (PTI)