31 Rajya Sabha MPs billionaires, 73 have criminal cases: ADR
What's the story
An analysis of the affidavits of 229 out of 233 Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament (MPs) has revealed that a significant number have declared criminal cases against themselves. The report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found that 73 MPs, or around 32%, have declared such cases. Among these, 36 MPs (16%) have serious charges against them.
Criminal charges
MPs with criminal cases
The ADR report also highlighted the nature of these criminal cases. One MP has declared a murder case, four have attempted murder charges, and three have crimes against women. A party-wise analysis showed that 27 out of 99 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs, 12 out of 28 Congress MPs, four out of 13 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and four out of 10 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs have declared criminal cases.
Wealth analysis
MPs with declared assets worth over ₹1,000 crore
The ADR report also analyzed the financial status of these MPs. It found that 31 MPs (14%) are billionaires, with assets in billions of rupees. The richest among them is BRS MP Bandi Partha Saradhi, with assets over ₹5,300 crore. He is followed by AAP's Rajinder Gupta and YSRCP's Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, with assets worth over ₹5,053 crore and more than ₹2,577 crore, respectively.
Asset distribution
Poorest MP in Rajya Sabha
On the other end of the spectrum, AAP's Sant Balbir Singh is the poorest Rajya Sabha MP with assets worth about ₹3 lakh. Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba of Manipur follows him with assets worth around ₹5 lakh. The average assets of Rajya Sabha MPs stand at ₹120.6 crore, with overall declared assets of all sitting MPs totaling ₹27,638 crore.