A report published by the Odisha Election Watch said 104 Zilla Parishad (ZP) members out of 851 in the State have criminal cases pending against them.
Out of the 104 members, 85 have declared serious criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, crime against women and rape pending against them. In their affidavits, five members have declared cases of murder, cases of attempt to murder against 11, cases of crime against women against 10 and rape case against one member, said the latest report.
The report also mentioned that the BJD has topped the criminal case chart with 71 members, while 18 from Congress and eight from BJP became second and third in the chart respectively.
About the financial background, the report said 21 members are crorepatis and average assets per member in the 2012 Odisha ZP elections was Rs 15.45 lakh. Angul district’s Rajendra Kumar Singh of the BJP is the richest member with assets worth over Rs 6.4 crore, while BJD’s Sangram Keshari Paikarai of Khordha and Kusum Ratha of Balangir are the second and third richest in the crorepati list.
It may be noted that 31 members have declared zero assets in their affidavits. There is a good number of women representatives (440 members) in the ZPs after introduction of 50 per cent reservation for women.
The report revealed that 226 members are graduates or have higher degrees. Only one member has doctorate degree, while one out of the total 851 ZP members is illiterate, added the report.