46% newly elected Odisha MLAs have criminal cases

Sambad English Bureau Published On : May 27, 2019 at 12:10 PM Updated On : May 28, 2019 at 11:26 AM

Bhubaneswar: About 46% poll candidates elected to the Odisha Assembly have criminal cases against themselves, a survey report revealed.

According to the report by Odisha Election Watch (OEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after announcement of poll results, total 67 MLAs out of 146 newly elected members of Odisha Assembly have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

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47 Odisha MLAs have serious criminal cases against them

Out of 147 MLAs analysed during Odisha Assembly Elections in 2014, the percentage was lower than 2019 Odisha Elections. In previous polls, 52 (35%) MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Similarly, 49 (34%) elected MLAs in 2019 Odisha polls have serious criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping. In 2014 Odisha Assembly Elections, 41 (28%) had declared serious criminal cases against themselves out of 147 MLAs, the post-poll ADR report stated.

Out of MLAs with serious criminal cases, two have declared cases related to murder under IPC Section 302 and 11 MLAs have declared cases related to attempt to murder under IPC Section 307.

The report showed that Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has maximum MLAs elected to Assembly with criminal antecedents. However, Congress topped the list in terms of percentage of MLAs with criminal cases. Among the MLAs (party wise), 46 (41%) out of 112 MLAs from BJD, 14 (61%) out of 23 MLAs from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 6 (67%) out of 9 elected legislators from Congress have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Moreover, 33(30%) out of 112 MLAs from BJD, 10 (44%) out of 23 MLAs from BJP and 5 (56%) out of 9 MLAs from Congress have serious criminal cases against themselves.

Earlier, the report prepared by OEW and ADR based on the affidavits filed by the poll candidates, who were contesting in fourth phase Assembly Elections, revealed that a whopping 72 out of a total 346 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves and 52 have declared serious criminal cases.

Read: Fourth phase Odisha polls: BJP tops list of candidates with criminal cases