Delhi gets 'criminal-free' House

24 out of 70 new MLAs face cases, but none of 'heinous' crime

None of the 70 newly elected MLAs in the capital are involved in heinous criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder or crimes against women.

“It is a welcome change and is unusual as compared to the rest of the country,” stated a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Wednesday.

Those who declared heinous criminal cases in the election were 14 of 70 Aam Aadmi Party candidates, 17 of 69 BJP candidates and 11 of 70 Congress candidates. However, none of them won.

Twenty-four of the 70 elected MLAs (34 per cent) have declared criminal cases in their poll affidavits but they did not fall in the ‘heinous’ category.

According to the ADR report, 23 AAP leaders of the 67 MLAs have declared criminal cases, while BJP’s Vijender Gupta is among the three MLAs who have declared criminal cases.
Seventeen per cent of the 673 candidates in the election had declared criminal cases and 11 per cent had declared heinous criminal cases.

One candidate had declared a case of murder, while five were accused of attempt to murder under IPC.

Data reveals that 91 of the candidates with criminal cases, including 60 candidates with heinous criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder and crimes against women, lost the election.

“Candidates with criminal cases who lost the election include 21 from Congress, 26 from BJP, one from AAP and 12 from Bahujan Samaj Party,” the report adds.

Of the 70 MLAs in the 2013 election, 25 MLAs (36 per cent) had declared criminal cases, while 29 of the 68 MLAs (43 per cent) analysed in the 2008 election had declared criminal cases. The report states that chances of winning for a candidate with no criminal case in the election was eight per cent.

“This has increased from seven per cent chances of winning for a candidate with a clean record in 2013 and six per cent chances of winning for a candidate with a clean record in 2008,” the report said. Over 70 of 673 candidates had declared heinous criminal cases.
In 2013, 94 of 796 candidates (12 per cent) had declared serious criminal cases, while it was four per cent (32 of 790 candidates) in 2008.

A whopping 39 per cent of BJP candidates (27 of 69) had declared criminal cases.
They were followed by 33 per cent of AAP candidates and 30 per cent of Congress candidates.

AAP’s 23 of the 70 candidates had declared criminal cases, and in Congress, there were 21 of 70 candidates.

Eight per cent (15 of 195) independent candidates had also declared criminal cases.