47% sitting MLAs in West Bengal have declared criminal cases: ADR

Around 47 per cent of sitting MLAs in poll-bound West Bengal have declared criminal cases against them, while 37 per cent face serious criminal cases, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

The assembly polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.

According to the report that analysed self-sworn affidavits of 291 out of 294 sitting MLAs, 136 (47 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 109 (37 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases.

At least eight sitting MLAs have declared cases related to murder, 29 have declared cases related to attempt to murder, while 22 have declared cases related to crimes against women, with one MLA declaring cases related to rape.

In the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), 92 (41 per cent) of 223 MLAs have declared criminal cases, while in the BJP, 42 (66 per cent) of 64 MLAs have declared criminal cases. The report also says 152 (52 per cent) of the total MPs are crorepatis. The total assets of 291 sitting MLAs are Rs 821.50 crore, and the average of assets per sitting MLA is Rs 2.82 crore.

The average asset per MLA for 223 TMC MLAs analysed is Rs 3.27 crore, for 64 BJP MLAs, it is Rs 1.07 crore, while one Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha MLA analysed has assets worth Rs 18.23 crore.

As far as education is concerned, 104 (36 per cent) MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 8 and 12, while 182 (63 per cent) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.

About 124 (43 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years, while 167 (57 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 and 70 years.

Out of 291 MLAs analysed, 45 (15 per cent) MLAs are women.