153 MPs have criminal charges against them in new Lok Sabha

153 MPs have criminal charges against them in new Lok Sabha
(SPECIAL REPORT)
By Prayaag Akbar

NEW DELHI: Ninety-eight elected members of the 15th Lok Sabha have failed to provide their PAN details to the Election Commission, according to a study conducted by the NGO collective National Election Watch. Another report, just released by the group, has found that 153 of 535 MPs had criminal charges against them. To compound matters, almost half of these MPs — 74 to be precise — are in the dock for the most serious offences against the Indian Penal Code like robbery, attempt to murder, inciting communal violence and the like.

Of the 98 MPs who refused to file their PAN details, National Election Watch has found that 25 are crorepatis. Rajkumari Ratna Singh of Pratapgarh, a member of the Indian National Congress’ surprise run in Uttar Pradesh, heads the list, with movable assets of around Rs 62 crores and immovable assets of Rs 5.5 crores. The Congress also has the most crorepatis in Lok Sabha, with 138 of their 206 winning candidates having assets of more than Rs 1 crore. The BJP has 58 such MPs. Even Marxist stalwart CPI[M] has amongst its ranks a solitary member of the crorepati club. The Samajwadi Party has 14 crorepatis in the Lok Sabha, though presumably none of them have computers.

Though election observers have been singing of a new dawn in electoral politics in India — with the polity supposedly moving towards a responsible, enlightened future — the figures suggest this is hardly the case. Of the 116 BJP MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, 43 have criminal charges — 37% — while 19 [16%] have serious criminal charges. Of the 204 Indian National Congress Members of Parliament examined, 41 have criminal charges, while 12 have serious criminal charges. Regional outfits like the Samajwadi Party are even more prone to such politics: 35% — 8 out of their 23 — have serious criminal charges against them, while 9 have just criminal charges.

Keeping in mind the notorious politics of Bihar, it is impressive that the JD[U] has managed to keep these figures down to a degree, while Naveen Patnaik’s clean image seems justified, with only one of his party’s 14 MPs accused of serious criminal misdemeanour. Eight of the crorepati MPs who failed to declare their PAN details have serious criminal records. Again Rajkumari Ratna Singh tops the list as she is accused of three extremely serious violations of the Indian Penal Code, including attempt to murder, robbery and criminal intimidation. Angadi Channabasappa, BJP MP from Karnataka has, perhaps predictably, been accused of promoting enmity between different communities. Various other charges have been brought against a number of the candidates, including the charge of forgery against P. Karunakaran of CPI[M} in Kerala, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to murder, and dacoity against Vinay Kumar, again of the Indian National Congress.

THESE REPORTS WERE prepared by studying the affidavits declared by 535 Members of Parliament. National Election Watch is an election-monitoring agency that was started by the Association for Democratic Reform [ADR], the organisation that filed the PIL which culminated in the Supreme Court order of 2003 that requires every Lok Sabha candidate to disclose their full financial, criminal and educational background.

A number of interesting facts have been thrown up by the number-crunching of this organisation. The average assets per MP in Haryana is an astonishing Rs 18 crores, which suggests a strong correlation between winning candidates and level of assets in the state. Next on the list is Andhra Pradesh, with the average amongst 42 candidates coming to the remarkable figure of Rs 15 crores. Meghalaya, one of the poorest States in India, is third on the list, with the two candidates averaging Rs 12 crores between them. Most of the other north-eastern States are on the opposite end of the spectrum, with Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur all having winning candidates with average declared assets of Rs 50 lakhs or less. The sole Member of Parliament from Andaman & Nicobar Islands has Rs 12 lakhs of declared assets, which makes his territory the last on this list [¼]

Champions, Inevitably

Champions, Inevitably
By Prayaag Akbar

Another season, and another Premier League title for Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. The Scottish knight has just racked up a 18th title for the self-proclaimed biggest club in the world, equalling the record that bitter rivals Liverpool have held since their last league victory, way back in 1990. When Sir Alex was appointed manager of the club in 1986, the once-great club was enduring a protracted fallow period, far from the heady days of the 1950s and ‘60s. They could no longer attract the best talent in the country, as they had in the days of George Best and Bobby Charlton. Yet Ferguson took his time, fashioning a team that matched the fervent supporters of Manchester. More than twenty years later, he has won eleven league titles, the first coming in 1992 when the old Football League was rebranded and became the Premier League. In 1992 Liverpool’s haul of eighteen league titles seemed unassailable, and if you had suggested then that the mighty Liverpool would fail to win the league once in the next seventeen years you would have been laughed out of Old Trafford. But that is how things have panned out. By equalling that record this year Ferguson has comprehensively demonstrated who the top dog of English football has been since he has been around. It is worth keeping in mind that Ferguson is no shrinking violet. When he first headed south from the Scottish club Aberdeen, he was asked what his primary responsibility would be in England. His answer was succinct: ‘to knock Liverpool right off their f***ing perch’.

But if Manchester United’s unquenchable thirst for trophies is making things a little predictable at the top – this is their third league title in a row – football lovers seeking thrills should look below those heady reaches, to the pit of the Premier League table, where every season a gut-tingling fight to the finish takes place. This is the battle to decide which teams will be allowed to ply their trade in the topmost echelon of English football. Until the last weekend of the season, two of the three teams that would be demoted had not been decided. Only West Bromwich was sure to go down; Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull were all struggling to avoid the drop.

As it turned out, it was Newcastle and Middlesbrough that suffered that ignominy, with their failure to win ensuring Hull, who lost to the champions on the final day, and Sunderland, who lost to Chelsea, would escape the chop. The relegations come as something of a shock because both clubs have been established fixtures in the Premier League for some time now. Middlesbrough at least stayed true to their principles, playing decent football and never resorting to the overt physicality that typifies the approach of strugglers like Hull and Bolton. But it was the demise of Newcastle which is most startling. They are traditionally one of England’s biggest clubs, with highly-paid stars like Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka, Nicky Butt and Damien Duff all in the squad. Much is also made of the passionate support of the Geordie nation (they are often described as the best fans in England). In a bid to stave off relegation, in April Newcastle appointed their former striker Alan Shearer, who is revered as a demi-god in the northern city, but had absolute zero experience in football management. He had eight games to turn it around, but only managed to get three points during his tenure, all from a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough. Lessons need to be learnt for the club. Stability will be needed if a return to the top-flight is to be envisaged [¼]

In a season saturated with cricket, Saeed Naqvi spotted a write-up which forms part of a series of Covert quizzes. The questions are: Who wrote the piece? And which batsman is being praised by the cricket writer? The first five correct entries will get a year's subscription to the magazine.

The innings was rent in twain now; A was left standing on a solitary rock of sound technique; between him and rearguard yawned a chasm. He proceeded to play the cricket of heroic loneliness; he hit B for six to square leg with the serenest sweeping movement. He cut late with the touch of intimate art. Impending disaster did not ruffle him; even a snick through the slips off B was tranquil and graceful. B bowled keenly, accurately, ominously, and fast; C at the other end turned his leg-break now and again and avoided too much short stuff. D’s off-breaks had an amiable aspect. Now came the death and glory, brilliance wearing the dress of culture. A demolished the attack with aristocratic politeness, good taste, and reserve. Claude Duval never took possession of a stage coach with more charm of manner than this; his boundaries were jewels and trinkets which he accepted as though dangling them in his hands. He scored nearly fifty, unhurried but trenchant. He cut and glanced and drove, upright and lissome; his perfection of touch moved the aesthetic sense; this was the cricket of felicity, power and no covetousness, strength and no battery, dazzling strokes and no rhetoric; lovely, brave batsmanship giving joy to the connoisseur, and all done in a losing hour.