Guwahati: Around 32% of sitting Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 14% have assets exceeding Rs 100 crore, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report is based on an analysis of affidavits of 229 out of 233 Rajya Sabha members. One seat from Jharkhand is currently vacant, while affidavits of three MPs were not available. The analysis also includes 37 recently elected members.
Of the 229 MPs analysed, 73 (32%) have declared criminal cases, including 36 (16%) facing serious charges. Among these, one MP has declared a case related to murder, four have cases of attempt to murder, and three have cases involving crimes against women.
Party-wise, 27 of 99 BJP MPs have declared criminal cases, followed by 12 of 28 Congress MPs. Four MPs each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have also disclosed such cases, along with three MPs each from the CPI(M) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The report further reveals that 31 MPs (14%) are billionaires. Among major parties, six BJP MPs, five Congress MPs, four YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MPs, two each from AAP and BRS, and three from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have declared assets exceeding Rs 100 crore.
The average assets of a Rajya Sabha MP stand at 120.69 crore. Among major parties, the average assets per MP are 28.29 crore for BJP, 128.61 crore for Congress, 17.70 crore for TMC, and 574.09 crore for AAP. Other parties include YSRCP (522.63 crore), Samajwadi Party (399.71 crore), Biju Janata Dal (105.63 crore), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (11.90 crore).
BRS MP Bandi Partha Saradhi has declared the highest assets at over 5,300 crore, followed by AAP’s Rajinder Gupta with assets exceeding 5,053 crore, and YSRCP’s Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy with more than 2,577 crore.
At the lower end, AAP MP Sant Balbir Singh has declared assets of around 3 lakh, making him the least wealthy among those analysed. He is followed by Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba of Manipur with assets of about 5 lakh, and TMC MP Prakash Chik Baraik with approximately 9 lakh.
The ADR report highlights the continuing prevalence of criminal cases and significant wealth disparities among members of the Upper House.