17 out of 90 newly elected Chhattisgarh MLAs face criminal cases: report
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Raipur: The Chhattisgarh assembly elections witnessed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinching victory with 54 seats, a significant rise compared to the Congress' reduced tally of 35 seats from their previous count of 68 in 2018.
In this election, the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) secured a solitary constituency win.
Reports from Chhattisgarh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) highlight that among the newly elected 90 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Chhattisgarh, 17 have disclosed criminal cases against themselves in their poll affidavits. Notably, six of these MLAs are facing severe criminal charges like voluntarily causing harm and criminal intimidation.
This revelation points out that nearly 19% of the elected MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, with around 7% facing severe charges. The BJP, securing 54 seats, comprises 12 MLAs (22 percent) with criminal cases against them, whereas the Congress, securing 35 seats, has five MLAs (14%) facing such charges.
Moreover, within these parties, four (7%) BJP MLAs and two (6%) Congress legislators have serious criminal cases registered against them.
The report highlights the presence of certain prominent figures among the accused, such as outgoing Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from the Patan seat, along with Devendra Yadav (Bhilai Nagar) and Atal Shrivastav (Kota) from the Congress camp, all facing criminal cases.
Among the BJP's newly elected MLAs, the report lists former ministers Rajesh Munat (Raipur City West), Dayaldas Baghel (Navagarh), Shakuntala Singh Portey (Pratappur), Uddheshwari Paikra (Samri), OP Choudhary (Raigarh), Vijay Sharma (Kawardha), Vinayak Goyal (Chitrakot-ST), and Asharam Netam (Kanker-ST) as individuals with reported criminal cases.
Comparing this data with the 2018 elections, the report underscores that 27% of the previously elected 90 MLAs had criminal cases against them, with 14% facing severe charges at that time.