BHUBANESWAR: About 46 per cent poll candidates elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly have criminal cases against themselves, a survey report revealed.
According to the report by Odisha Election Watch (OEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), after announcement of poll results, a total of 67 out of 146 newly-elected MLAs in Odisha Assembly have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.
Out of 147 MLAs analysed during Odisha Assembly elections in 2014, the percentage was lower than 2019 Odisha elections. In previous polls, 52 (35%) MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves.
Similarly, 49 (34%) elected MLAs in 2019 Odisha polls have serious criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping. In 2014 Odisha Assembly elections, 41 (28%) had declared serious criminal cases against themselves out of 147 MLAs, the post-poll ADR report stated.
Out of MLAs with serious criminal cases, two have declared cases related to murder under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 11 MLAs have declared cases related to attempt to murder under IPC Section 307.
The report showed that Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has maximum MLAs elected to Assembly with criminal antecedents. However, the Congress topped the list in terms of percentage of MLAs with criminal cases.
Among the MLAs (party wise), 46 (41%) out of 112 MLAs from BJD, 14 (61%) out of 23 MLAs from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 6 (67%) out of nine elected legislators from Congress have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Moreover, 33 (30%) out of 112 MLAs from BJD, 10 (44 per cent) out of 23 MLAs from BJP and 5 (56%) out of 9 MLAs from Congress have serious criminal cases against them.
