New Delhi: Over 220 people with criminal charges have been elected as MPs this election, 29 per cent of them accused of rape and murder.
In 2014, there were 185 MPs facing criminal charges.
“There is an increase of 109 per cent (in 2019) in the number of Parliamentarians with declared serious criminal cases since 2009,” the Association of Democratic Reforms said in its study.
The highest number of MPs with criminal charges elected in 2019 is 116 from the BJP. This is followed by 29 MPs (57 per cent) from the Congress, 13 (81 per cent) from the JDU, 10 (43 per cent) from the DMK and nine (41 per cent) from the TMC, the ADR said.
In the new Lok Sabha, nearly 29 per cent of the cases are related to rape, murder, attempt to murder or crime against women.
Dean Kuriakose from the Congress, who won from the Idukki constituency in Kerala, has 204 criminal cases against him, including culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery, criminal intimidation.
Eleven winners — five from the BJP, two from the BSP, one each from the Congress, NCP and the YSR Congress Party, and an Independent — have murder charges against them.
Pragya Singh Thakur, the newly-elected BJP MP from Bhopal, faces terror charges in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blasts. The BJP has faced a lot of criticism for fielding her.
