A new report on the educational qualifications and criminal backgrounds of sitting Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across India by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed alarming statistics.

According to the data, 21% of Gujarat’s sitting MLAs are facing criminal cases, while 55% are non-graduates.

Criminal charges

The report analyses 4,092 MLAs in India, out of which 1,861 (45%) have declared criminal cases against themselves. Moreover, 1,205 (29%) are facing serious criminal charges, including cases related to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women.

Andhra Pradesh tops the charge with most MLAs with criminal cases against them, with 138 out of 174 (79%) members facing a charge. It is followed by two other southern states Kerala – 93 out of 134 (69%) – and Telangana – 82 out of 119 (69%) of MLAs facing charges.

In Gujarat, 37 out of 182 (21%) MLAs are facing criminal charges.

States with the Highest Percentage of MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases

1. Andhra Pradesh: 98 out of 174 (56%)
2. Telangana: 59 out of 119 (50%)
3. Bihar: 119 out of 241 (49%)
4. Odisha: 66 out of 147 (45%)
5. Jharkhand: 36 out of 80 (45%)

In Gujarat, 26 out of 182 (14%) MLAs face serious criminal charges.

Criminal Charges among major political parties

• BJP: 638 (39%)
• Congress: 339 (52%)
• AAP: 69 (56%)

MLAs Facing Serious Criminal Charges

• BJP: 436 (26%)
• Congress: 194 (30%)
• AAP: 35 (28%)

Billionaire MLAs in India

Only 3% of the MLAs (119 MLAs) have declared assets worth over ₹100 crore in India. The top five states with most billionaire MLAs are –

1. Karnataka: 31
2. Andhra Pradesh: 27
3. Maharashtra: 18
4. Telangana: 7
5. Gujarat: 5

Parties with the Most Billionaire MLAs

• BJP: 39
• Congress: 30
• TDP: 22
• DMK: 3
• NCP: 3

Top 10 MLAs with highest assets in India

When it comes to individual wealth, Maharashtra’s Parag Shah has the most wealth of all MLAs in India, at a whopping ₹3,383 crores. In Gujarat, Jayanti Patel (JS Patel) is the only one in the top 10 with the total wealth of ₹661 crore.

1. Parag Shah (Maharashtra) – ₹3,383 crore
2. D K Shivakumar (Karnataka) – ₹1,413 crore
3. K H Puttaswamy Gowda (Karnataka) – ₹1,267 crore
4. Priyakrishna (Karnataka) – ₹1,156 crore
5. Chandrababu Naidu Nara (Andhra Pradesh) – ₹931 crore
6. Narayana Ponguru (Andhra Pradesh) – ₹824 crore
7. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) – ₹757 crore
8. Prashanthi Reddy Vemireddy (Andhra Pradesh) – ₹716 crore
9. Jayantibhai Somabhai Patel (Gujarat) – ₹661 crore
10. Suresha B S (Karnataka) – ₹648 crore

MLAs with the least assets

On the other end of the spectrum is the MLAs who own the assets that are worth in thousands. Here are the MLAs with the least wealth in India –

1. Ramvriksh Sada (Bihar) – ₹70,000
2. Nandita Debbarma (Tripura) – ₹63,000
3. Chandana Bauri (West Bengal) – ₹62,300
4. Sanjali Murmu (Odisha) – ₹35,100
5. Anil Kumar Anil Pradhan (Uttar Pradesh) – ₹30,500
6. Pundarikakshya Saha (West Bengal) – ₹30,400
7. Mehraj Malik (Jammu & Kashmir) – ₹29,000
8. Narinder Kaur Bharaj (Punjab) – ₹24,400
9. Narinder Pal Singh Sawna (Punjab) – ₹18,300
10. Nirmal Kumar Dhara (West Bengal) – ₹1,700

Gender disparity

Women make up for only 10% of the sitting MLAs in India, where 90% of the MLAs are men. There are 400 women MLAs in the country, in comparison to 3,692 male MLAs.

Uttar Pradesh has the most women MLAs (51), followed by West Bengal (44), Bihar (29), Madhya Pradesh (27), and Maharashtra (22).

Gujarat has 14 women MLAs.

Parties with the Most Women MLAs –

• BJP: 168
• Congress: 63
• AITC: 38
• TDP: 19
• SP: 15

Educational Background of MLAs

When it comes to education, Gujarat paints a problematic picture with 55% of its MLAs being non-graduate. In fact, 51% of the Gujarat’s MLAs have studied till classes 5 to 12.

The western state is followed by Goa (48% MLAs studied from classes 5 to 12), Punjab (42%), Maharashtra (41%), and Sikkim (44%).

Age Distribution of MLAs

A significant number of MLAs (34.8%) are of the age group 51 to 60, followed by 61 to 70-year-old MLAs (21.1%). Shockingly, there are only 1.3% MLAs representing the youth (aged 25 to 30).

The ADR report sheds light on India’s legislative representation, which clearly shows a gender disparity, inequality in wealth distribution, a large number of leaders facing criminal charges, and the absence of youth in the decision-making!