Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

35 newly elected Kerala MLAs are crorepatis

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 25 per cent of the newly-elected members of the Kerala Assembly are crorepatis.

An analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch based on affidavits filed by candidates in the recent elections shows that 35 members have assets exceeding Rs.1 crore. Of the 35 crorepatis, 30 belong to the United Democratic Front (UDF).

The analysis indicates that candidates with large assets have a higher chance of winning the elections. While 56.7 per cent of the candidates with assets exceeding Rs.2 crore won, only 16 per cent with assets lower than Rs.10 lakh were elected.

Similarly, 50 per cent of the candidates having assets of Rs.50 lakh to Rs.2 crore won, while only 28.1 per cent of the candidates with assets in the range of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.50 lakh could make it to the Assembly. This, the study says, seems to suggest that money power influenced the elections.

Nearly half the new members (67 out of 140) have criminal cases pending against them as per their own declarations. Of them, 12 have declared serious IPC charges such a attempt to murder and attempt to commit culpable homicide against them. (Most of these charges were apparently related to participation in violent agitations). The UDF and the LDF (Left Democratic Front) have 40 and 27 members respectively with pending criminal cases.

A total of 79 MLAs out of 140 MLAs analysed by the Election Watch Kerala have declared that they have never filed Income Tax returns. Out of the above 79 MLAs who have never filed IT returns, 60 have not even given PAN details.

No one elected to the 13 {+t} {+h} Assembly is illiterate, but four of them have only primary education or a pass in the fifth standard. More than 56 per cent (79 out of 140) are graduates or persons with higher educational qualification. The Congress has 28 MLAs who are graduates or above out of its total strength of 38. The CPI has six graduates (out of 13 members), and the Indian Union Muslim League nine (out of 20 members). Three members have doctorates – N. Jayaraj (KC-M), K.T. Jaleel (CPI-M Independent) and T.M. Thomas Isaac (CPI-M). There are only seven women in the House.

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