A total of 54%, or 126 out of the 234 winning candidates in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, have criminal cases against them, according to a study released on Saturday by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Tamil Nadu Election Watch.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which emerged as the single-largest party in the state after it won 108 seats, had 41 MLAs with criminal cases, the highest of all, the study added.
The organisation analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 233 of the 234 winning candidates in the election held on April 23. As the affidavit uploaded on the Election Commission website by TVK MLA T Arunkumar was unclear, it could not be analysed.
Of the total MLAs who are accused of crimes, 56, or 24%, have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, said the study.
The study defines serious criminal offences as those carrying a maximum punishment of five years or more, non-bailable offences, or cases involving loss to the public exchequer. This category includes offences such as assault, murder, kidnapping, rape, crimes against women and offences mentioned in the Representation of the People Act. It also includes offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
While one MLA has a murder charge, six of them are accused in attempt-to-murder cases. Two winning candidates declared pending cases related to crimes against women.
The party-wise analysis showed that 41 TVK MLAs, or 38% of winning candidates, had pending criminal cases, followed by 37, or 63%, from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and 33, or 70%, from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Four Pattali Makkal Katchi MLAs, three Congress winners, two each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, and one each from the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and Indian Union Muslim League also declared pending criminal cases.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s sole MLA declared that no criminal or serious criminal cases were pending against him.
The study also found a rise in the number of wealthy legislators. Of the 233 winning candidates analysed, 193, or 83%, had assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, compared to 86% in 2021.
The total declared assets of all winning candidates stood at Rs 11,265 crore, while the average assets per MLA rose to Rs 48.3 crore from Rs 12.2 crore in the previous Assembly.
The AIADMK’s Leemarose Martin is the wealthiest MLA, with assets worth Rs 5,863 crore, followed by Chief Minister Vijay of the TVK, with Rs 648 crore. Vijay took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
Additionally, there are only 23 women MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, accounting for 10% of the total strength. In 2021, the number was at 5%.
Edited by Sneha
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