Delhi tops list of cities with politicians facing criminal cases, Delhi, Politician, Criminal Cases, Delhi poll 2013, crime in politics,Delhi news, delhi election updates.

Delhi tops list of cities with politicians facing criminal cases.

Uttar Pradesh or even Bihar may be synonymous with politicians of the criminally tainted kind, but it's no sweet surprise that Delhi leads the five pollbound states of late 2013 when it comes to crime and politics. The Capital also tops the table on crorepati legislators, beating Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

Data analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows that Delhi has highest percentage - 43 per cent - of MLAs with declared pending criminal cases against them. Madhya Pradesh comes a poor second with a 25 per cent score on the same test, and Rajasthan is third with 16 per cent. As far as wealthy legislators are concerned, no less than 69 per cent of Delhi's MLAs have crossed the crorepati line; Rajasthan comes second with 46 per cent crorepati MLAs and Madhya Pradesh is third with 38 per cent.

That 47 of Delhi's 70 legislators are crorepatis highlights the high correlation between wealth and political success. The flip side? To be economically disadvantaged is a handicap in the politics of the nation's capital. In other words, everyone has the right to fight but it can't be done without oodles of cash. The ADR analysis covers all 607 victorious candidates in the Assembly elections of 2008 from these five states. Overall 264 of these MLAs, or 43 per cent, are members of the crorepati club.

There is an egalitarianism in this inequality, however. The three richest Delhi MLAs are from different parties. Bharat Singh, the MLA from Najafgarh, tops the list of wealthy legislators in Delhi. His admitted assets total Rs.14.45 crore. Singh, from the Haryana-based Indian National Lok Dal, is followed by Pradyman Rajput of the BJP, the MLA from Dwarka, who is worth Rs.11.90 crore. Sumesh of Congress, the MLA from Matiala in West Delhi, is third with assets of Rs.11.43 crore.

The non-partisan distribution extends to the taint of criminal charges. The Delhi list of MLAS with pending criminal cases of a serious nature is led by Asif Mohammad Khan of the Congress. Khan, the MLA from Okhla, is accused in 16 criminal cases, of which four are of serious nature, the ADR data says. Khan's joined the Congress recently; he was with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal earlier.

Dodgy correlation

Bharat Singh, the wealthiest Delhi MLA, is No. 2 on the crime list, highlighting the inevitable intersection - or even high correlation- of wealth and criminality in an Assembly where more than two-thirds of members are crorepatis and almost half face criminal charges. Bharat Singh faces three criminal cases, including one of murder and one of attempt to murder, and is unique in that he is in the top three of both lists. He is followed by Kulwant Rana of the BJP, the Rithala representative who faces with two criminal cases.

Partywise, the BJP is ahead of the Congress in Delhi when it comes to criminal charges. The ADR data reveals that while 38 per cent of Congress MLAs face criminal charges, the BJP has no less than 46 per cent of its Delhi MLAs involved in criminal cases.

War of taint

The alleged criminality of candidates fielded by various parties says a lot too. Thirty per cent of Congress candidates in Delhi's Assembly polls of 2008 were tainted; for the BJP this figure was 35 per cent.

The ADR data comes from analysis of candidates fielded during the elections of 2008 in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram and the criminal, financial and gender details of the outgoing MLAs in these states. It is based on selfsworn affidavits filed by candidates before the Election Commission of India. The ADR wants all political parties to give tickets to taint-free candidates in the upcoming elections.

source:indiatoday.

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