No MLA with serious criminal antecedents

First time ever in the history of Delhi Legislative Assembly this time, there isn’t a single MLA, who has a heinous criminal background like murder, attempt to murder and crimes against women. Notably, in the last Assembly session, there were as many as 20 MLAs out of 70 carrying serious criminal charges filed against them including attempt to murder, dacoity and assault against women. The corresponding number for 2008 was 29 out of 68 MLAs.

An analysis of the elected candidates in the recently held polls have shown that the number of them with criminal cases have gone down from the previous elections, with only 24 MLAs or 34 per cent contenders declaring non-serious cases of crime. A breakdown of the numbers, in a study conducted by the Delhi Election Watch and the Association of Democratic Research (ADR) has shown that this figure has reduced marginally, with 25 out of 70 MLAs declaring criminal cases against themselves in the 2013 elections. Further, no MLAs, who had heinous criminal backgrounds, including murder or attempt to murder, were elected. The analysis has revealed that 23 MLAs (34 per cent) from the AAP and one MLA (33 per cent) from the BJP had criminal backgrounds but charges levelled against them are minor. But in the last session, 55 per cent of the candidates from BJP (17 out of 31), 25 per cent of the Congress (2 out of 8), while AAP was not too far behind at 11 per cent (3 out of 28). One candidate each from JD(U), SAD (Akali Dal) and an independent also had criminal charges against them.

The ADR has also revealed that a total of 91 candidates with criminal cases lost the elections, including 60 with serious criminal cases lodged against them. 

“91 out of 673 candidates with criminal cases, including 60 candidates with serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder and crimes against women lost the polls. Interestingly, all the candidates with serious criminal cases lost the elections. This  includes 21 Congress candidates, 26 BJP candidates, 12 BSP and one AAP candidate. This is a welcome sign,” the analysis revealed.