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According to analysis carried out by electoral watchdog ADR, the 68 incoming MLAs of the Congress own assets worth an average of Rs 11.83 crore.

New Delhi: Twenty-four of the 90 MLAs elected to the Chhattisgarh assembly this week have criminal cases against them. They account for 27 per cent of the strength of the House, up from 17 per cent in the last assembly.

Electoral watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed the MLAs’ electoral affidavits, and found that 13 of the 90 (just over 14 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves — bribery, attempt to murder and death by negligence, among others. The comparative number for the 2013 assembly was nine per cent.

The Congress has 68 MLAs in the new House, including 19 with criminal records (28 per cent). Of these, 12 MLAs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J), meanwhile, has a strength of five MLAs, two of whom have records. One of these two is accused of serious crimes.

The BJP, which lost power after 15 years, has three MLAs out of 15 (20 per cent) with a record, but none of them are accused of serious crimes.

Also read: Narendra Modi’s ‘urban Naxals’ jibe works like a charm in Chhattisgarh for Congress

No shortage of money

ADR’s analysis revealed that 68 (76 per cent) of the incoming MLAs are crorepatis, which is almost the same as the outgoing assembly’s figure of 67.

Forty-eight Congress MLAs (71 per cent), 14 from the BJP (93 per cent), all five MLAs of Jogi’s party and one of the BSP’s two MLAs fall in this bracket.

“The average of assets per MLA in the Chhattisgarh 2018 assembly elections is Rs 11.63 crore. In 2013, the average assets of 90 MLAs analysed was Rs 8.88 crore,” said the ADR report.

The average assets are Rs 11.83 crore for the Congress, Rs 6.32 crore for the BJP, 28.68 crore for the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and Rs 2.04 crore for the BSP.

Eleven MLAs (12 per cent) have not declared income tax details.

Also read: More than 4,000 cases pending against MPs & MLAs, says report submitted in Supreme Court

Educational qualifications

The new assembly is also quite well-educated — almost 69 per cent of MLAs are graduates or higher. This includes 27 graduates, 34 post-graduates, and also a doctorate.

Sixteen MLAs have passed class 12, three have passed class 10, and a total of eight have studied up to class 5 or class 8. One MLA has declared himself “literate”.

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