Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Chhattisgarh Election Watch report: 21 sitting MLAs of the Chhattisgarh Assembly have declared criminal cases regisered against them.

A total of 21 sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases and 11 of them have serious criminal charges against them, the latest report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Chhattisgarh Election Watch found.

The agencies have analysed criminal, financial and other background details of 88 out of 90 sitting MLAs, which have been extracted based on affidavits submitted by the candidates prior to the 2018 assembly elections and by-elections.

The analysis is done on 88 seats out of 90 with two remaining Baloda Bazar and Vaishali Nagar seats vacant.

“Out of the 88 sitting MLAs analysed, 21 (24%) sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 11 (13%) sitting MLAs have declared serious criminal cases,” the report read.

A total of 18 (25%) out of 71 MLAs from INC and 3 (21%) out of 14 BJP MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, the report revealed.

“11 (15%) out of 71 INC MLAs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits,” it said.

Financial background:

Of the 88 sitting MLAs, 65 or 74 per cent of the legislators are millionaires, with the average assets per sitting MLA at Rs 10.50 crore.

“50 (70%) out of 71 MLAs from INC, 13 (93%) out of 14 MLAs from BJP, 1 (50%) out of 2 MLAs from BSP and 1 (100%) Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLAs have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore,” the report said.

Richest MLA in Chhattisgarh:

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T S Singhdeo is the richest MLA having assets of more than Rs 500 crore. Rajim MLA Amitesh Shukla comes second with declared assets worth Rs 74 crore followed by BJP MLA from Akaltara Saurabh Singh Thakur worth Rs 27 crore, according to the ADR report.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who represents the Patan constituency, has total assets worth Rs 23 crore, and former Chief Minister of the state and BJP leader Raman Singh has declared total assets worth Rs 10 crore.

Lowest Assets MLAs:

Ram Kumar Yadav representing the Chandrapur constituency has declared assets worth Rs 30,000, followed by Gulab Singh Kamro and Shakuntala Sahu who have declared assets of five lakh each. They represent the Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST) and Kasdol constituencies respectively.