As the announcement and campaigning of the parties’ candidates for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections is in full swing, the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) and the Tamil Nadu Election Watch have jointly released details of the criminal background, assets and education of the current MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies.
Following are some of the key information released by the report:
Of the 204 MLAs surveyed in Tamil Nadu, 68 MLAs (33%) have reported criminal cases against themselves. Of these, 38 MLAs have serious criminal cases against them.
8 MLAs have attempted murder cases (IPC SECTION 107). More than 2 MLAs have cases related to crimes against women (IPC SECTION 354 AND 509).
In party terms, 40 of the 86 MLAs in the DMK, 23 of the 109 MLAs in the AIADMK and 7 MLAs in the Congress and an independent MLA also have criminal cases against him.
Similarly, there are serious criminal cases against 22 MLAs in the DMK, 13 MLAs in the AIADMK, 2 MLAs in the Congress and one independent MLA.
Of the 204 MLAs, 157, or 77%, are millionaires. There are 74 MLAs in the DMK and 76 MLAs in the AIADMK who are millionaires.
The average asset value of an incumbent MLA is Rs 6.05 crore. 109 AIADMK MLAs have an average net worth of Rs 3.49 crore, while 86 DMK MLAs have an average net worth of Rs 9.49 crore. The average asset value of 7 Congress MLAs is said to be Rs 3.72 crore.
Of these, 27 (13%) MLAs out of 204 did not declare their income tax details. The number of MLAs who studied from Class V to Class XII was 89 (44%). 110 (54%) MLAs have declared their qualifications as graduates or above of the 204 MLAs, 17 (8%) are women.
Out of 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, 4 seats are vacant. The remaining 26 MLAs were not examined as clear documents and adequate documents were not available at the time of filing this report.
With elections coming up in Tamil Nadu in less than a month, the study looks at the criminal background and property values of those elected by the people in the last election.
Candidates contesting in each constituency provide details including their education, property and criminal cases during the filing of election nominations. The ADR said the report was based on information available from the Election Commission’s website that voters need to know about their elected representatives.
- Arun Prasad, Student Journalist (Training)
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