Twenty-seven per cent newly-elected MLAs in Assam have criminal cases registered against them, a study conducted by Assam Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.
The report, released on May 5, said that out of the 126 winning candidates analysed in 2021, 34 (27%) winning candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Also, 28 (22%) of them have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, crimes against women etc.
Among the major parties, seven out of 60 winning candidates from BJP, 10 out of 29 winning candidates from Congress, eight out of 16 winning candidates from AIUDF, one out of nine winning candidates from AGP, one out of six winning candidates from United Peoples Party, Liberal and one Independent winner candidate have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
ADR and Assam Election Watch also analysed the financial background of the winning candidates. “Out of the 126 winning candidates analysed, 85 (67%) are crorepatis. Out of 126 MLAs analysed during Assam assembly elections 2016, 72 (57%) MLAs were crorepatis,” the report said.
It further mentioned that among the major parties, 43 out of 60 from BJP, 21 out of 29 from Congress, three out of four from Bodoland Peoples Front, eight out of nine from AGP and eight out of 16 from AIUDF winning candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The average of assets per winning candidates in the Assam Assembly Elections 2021 is Rs 4.59 crore.
AIUDF’s Siraj Uddin Ajmal representing Jamunamukh has the highest declared asset of Rs 111.36 crore. The same party’s MLA from Chenga, Ashraful Hussain has the lowest asset of Rs 2.6 lakh only.
The analysis of the data further revealed that 34 (27%) winning candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass while 91 (72%) winning candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above.
Age details of winning candidates: 54 (43%) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 72 (57%) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 70 years.
Gender details of winning candidates: Out of 126 winning candidates analysed, 6 (5%) winning candidates are women. In 2016, out of 126 MLAs, 8 (6%) MLAs were women.
