61% of newly-elected Delhi MLAs have declared criminal cases as compared to 34% in 2015

The seventh Delhi Legislative Assembly, which was elected on Tuesday, will have almost double the number of MLAs with declared criminal cases against them as compared to the sixth Assembly elected in 2015.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retained majority in the Assembly, winning 62 out of the 70 seats. The BJP won the remaining eight seats. In 2015, the AAP had won 67 seats and the BJP got three.

According to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 43 of the 70 newly-elected MLAs, or 61%, have declared criminal cases against them. After the 2015 Assembly elections, the number stood at 24 (of the 70 MLAs) or 34%. The number of MLAs who declared serious criminal cases, which includes crimes against women, murder, assault and corruption, more than doubled from 14, or 20% of the total, in 2015 to 37, or 53%, in the newly-elected Assembly, ADR said.

Of the 62 AAP MLAs, 38 or 61% have declared criminal cases against themselves in their election affidavits. Among the 43 newly-elected MLAs who have declared criminal cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had the highest number of cases — 13. Five of the eight BJP MLAs, or 63%, declared criminal cases against themselves, ADR said. Nine of the newly-elected Delhi MLAs — eight from the AAP, including incumbent Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, and one of the BJP — declared convictions in various cases.

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In terms of their financial backgrounds, 74% of the newly-elected MLAs declared assets of over ₹1 crore, an increase from 63% in 2015. This includes 73% of AAP MLAs and 88% of legislators from the BJP. The average assets of MLAs increased from ₹6.29 crore in 2015 to ₹14.29 crore now.

Three AAP MLAs possessed with the highest assets, ADR said. Mundka MLA Dharampal Lakra declared ₹292 crore in assets, followed by R.K. Puram MLA Parmila Tokas, who declared ₹80 crore in assets, and Patel Nagar MLA Raaj Kumar Anand, who declared ₹78 crore in assets.

Sixty per cent of the MLAs, 42 out of 70, declared educational qualification of graduate and above, and 56%, or 39 out of 70, are between 25 and 50 years of age. Eight women have been elected to the Delhi Assembly this time, while in 2015, six women had been elected.