New Delhi: A report by ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) and ‘National Election Watch’ (NEW) revealed that 12 percent of the current Rajya Sabha members are billionaires and that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have the highest proportion of such MPs. The report analyzed the criminal, financial, and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha members. One seat is vacant in the Rajya Sabha at present.
The report stated that 45 percent of the MPs are from Andhra Pradesh, 43 percent of the MPs from Telangana, 16 percent of the MPs from Maharashtra, 33 percent of the MPs from Delhi, 29 percent of the MPs from Punjab, 20 percent of the MPs from Haryana and 18 percent of the MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.
The total assets of the MPs from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are Rs 5,596 crore, Rs 3,823 crore, and Rs 1,941 crore respectively. Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha members analyzed, 75 (33 percent) have declared that they have criminal cases against them.
Moreover, about 18 percent of the Rajya Sabha members have declared serious criminal cases and two members have declared cases related to murder. Four Rajya Sabha members have declared cases related to crime against women. One of them is Congress’s K. C. Venugopal from Rajasthan who has declared a case relating to rape.
The report also showed that 27 percent of the BJP MPs, 40 percent of the Congress MPs, 31 percent of the Trinamool Congress MPs, 83 percent of the RJD MPs, 80 percent of the CPI-M MPs, 30 percent of the AAP MPs, 33 percent of the YSR Congress Party MPs and 67 percent of the NCP MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
