New Delhi, March 18 Nearly 70 per cent of sitting MLAs in Kerala have declared criminal cases against themselves, while more than half are crorepatis, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The analysis, conducted by ADR and Kerala Election Watch, examined the affidavits of 132 sitting MLAs and found that 92 legislators have pending criminal cases. Of these, 33 MLAs, or 25 per cent, have declared serious criminal cases, including charges related to murder and attempt to murder.
The report noted that two MLAs have declared cases related to murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, while three face charges of attempt to murder under Section 307. Additionally, three MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, including one involving rape.
Data by party shows a high proportion of MLAs with criminal cases across political parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had 43 out of 58 MLAs (74 per cent) facing criminal cases, while the Indian National Congress recorded 19 out of 21 MLAs (90 per cent). Among others, the Communist Party of India had 44 per cent, and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had 86 per cent of its MLAs declaring such cases.
On the financial front, 72 MLAs (55 per cent) have declared assets worth over Rs 1 crore. The total assets of all 132 MLAs stood at Rs 363.78 crore, with an average asset of Rs 2.75 crore per MLA.
Among the political parties, all MLAs from Kerala Congress (M), JD(S), NCP, and Kerala Congress have declared assets above Rs 1 crore. The IUML has 86 per cent of its MLAs in the crorepati category, followed by the Congress at 62 per cent and CPI(M) at 40 per cent.
The report identified Mathew Kuzhalnadan of the Congress as the richest MLA with total assets exceeding Rs 34 crore, followed by Independent MLA Mani C Kappen with over Rs 27 crore and K B Ganesh Kumar of Kerala Congress (B) with assets worth more than Rs 19 crore.
At the other end, CPI(M) MLA P P Sumod has declared assets of around Rs 9.9 lakh, making him the least wealthy among those analysed.
In terms of demographics, 61 per cent of MLAs have educational qualifications of graduate level or above, while 36 per cent have studied between Class 5 and 12.
Only 11 MLAs, or 8 per cent, are women.
The age profile shows that 70 per cent of the MLAs are between 51 and 80 years old, while 30 per cent fall in the 25-50 age group.