72 of 118 Telangana incumbent MLAs have criminal cases against them: ADR report

Telangana: In Telangana, a recent analysis of 118 incumbent MLAs revealed that 72 of them – 61 per cent of the total – have self-reported criminal cases.

Notably, 46 of these MLAs are facing serious criminal charges. As the November 30 Telangana elections approach, this data on the criminal records and assets of the MLAs provides intriguing information for the public to consider.

A data study was conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Telangana Election Watch which analysed the criminal, financial and other background information of 118 out of 119 sitting MLAs.

Out of the total, 43 (36 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 30-50 years while 75 (64 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 50-80 years. Almost 90 per cent of the MLAs are crorepatis.

This analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates prior to the 2018 Assembly elections and by-elections conducted thereafter.

Criminal Cases

As per the data, there are seven sitting MLAs with declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307) charges.

Four sitting MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of four sitting MLAs, one MLA had declared a case related to rape (IPC Section 376) charges.

Part wise data

A total of 59 (58 per cent) out of 101 MLAs from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), six (86 per cent) out of seven MLAs from AIMIM, four (67 per cent) out of six MLAs from Congress, two (100 per cent) MLAs from BJP and one (50 per cent) out of the two Independent MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

As many as 38 (38 per cent) out of 101 MLAs from BRS, two (29 per cent) out of seven MLAs from AIMIM, three (50 per cent) out of six MLAs from Congress, two (100 per cent) MLAs from BJP and one (50 per cent) out of two Independent MLAs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Crorepati MLAs

Out of the 118 sitting MLAs analysed, 106 (90 per cent) are crorepatis. Among the total, 93 (92 per cent) out of 101 MLAs from BRS, five (71 per cent) out of seven MLAs from AIMIM, four (67 per cent) out of six MLAs from Congress, two (100 per cent) MLAs from BJP and two (100 per cent) Independent MLAs have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

The average assets of a sitting MLA is Rs 13.57 crores. The average assets of an MLA among the 101 BRS MLAs analysed is Rs 14.11 crores. Similarly, the average assets of an MIM MLA among seven is Rs 10.84 crores, six Congress MLAs were assessed Rs 4.22 crores per MLA, two BJP MLAs were worth Rs 32.61 crores per MLA and two Independent MLAs have average assets of Rs 4.66 crores.

Among these, Marri Janardhan Reddy, the BRS MLA of Nagarkurnool constituency has the highest assets of Rs 161 crores. Following him is Kandala Upender Reddy of BRS from Palair with Rs 91 crores, and BRS MLA Pailla Shekar Reddy from Yadadri Bhongir with Rs 91 crores.

AIMIM Yakutpur MLA Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri has the least assets of Rs 19 lakhs. Following him are MLA Ravi Shankar Sunke from Choppadandi with Rs 20 lakhs and Athram Sakku, the Asifabad MLA with Rs 27 lakhs.

As many as 44 MLAs have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above. Among them, the top three MLAs are Kandala Upender Reddy from Palair constituency with Rs 94 crores, Marri Janardhan Reddy from Nagarkurnool with Rs 63 crores, and MLA Danam Nagender of Khairatabad with Rs 40 crore as liability.

MLAs with high-income

As per the ITR (income-tax returns), three MLAs have the highest income among others analysed. The total income of the MLAs includes income of self, spouse and dependents.

Marri Janardhan Reddy has Rs 161 crore in assets with a declared self-income of Rs 5 crore in rental and business columns.

S Rajender Reddy, the BRS MLA of Mahabubnagar constituency (Narayanpet) with Rs 66 crores worth of assets has a self-income of Rs 5 crores earned through agriculture and remuneration.

Alla Venkateswara Reddy, the BRS MLA of Mahbubnagar constituency (Devarkadra) with Rs 20 crores worth of assets has Rs 12 lakhs declared under salary, agriculture and other income columns.

Educational qualifications

As many as 43 MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between Class V and Class XII, while 69 MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.

As many as five MLAs are Diploma holders, while one MLA has declared himself to be just literate.